City’s ARB wants more input on courthouse project

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BY ROBYN SIDERSKY

Fredericksburg’s Architectural Review Board wants more information about the city’s new courthouse and will continue Monday night’s public hearing on July 23 to get it.

The board had little discussion at its Monday night meeting about the project, but board member J. Gordon Brown was unhappy with it.

He attended the City Council work session, held June 19, when the courts project was discussed, and he said he was unhappy with the way project architects First Choice Public-Private Partners presented the plans to the council, and how the ARB was represented. He noted that the ARB recommended there be more study on certain design items and not all of the items were addressed by the architects.

“Honestly, in the presentation to City Council, it was also assumed we [the ARB] had seen these and of course, we hadn’t,” he said, referring to detailed design plans with modifications.

He and others on the board recommended further study be done on how to enhance the building. Chair Jamie Scully said he would like to see what changed in the plans, specifically.

City Senior Planner Erik Nelson, and the liaison between the board and city staff, said the architects would be back for the next meeting, on July 23, with a full presentation.

Board member Owen Lindauer asked if the designers could address each of the six items the ARB had previously voiced concerns over, and how they led to modifications or were not modified in the current design and why.

The City Council will discuss the courts in another work session tonight at 7:30 in City Hall.

Robyn Sidersky 540/374-5413

rsidersky@freelancestar.com

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