Chilliwack Courthouse
Getting things done in Chilliwack, BC
Chilliwack's new 32,000 square foot courthouse is now open! The 2-storey building, at Chilliwack's "Five Corners", went into service in the last week of May, 2002. With Barry Penner as the master of ceremonies, a celebration was held on May 31st to open the new complex officially. The new Law Courts building replaces an inadequate courthouse built on College Street in the early 1950s.
The complex is compact and houses many services.
- The new courthouse has contains five court rooms, Sheriff's services, Judges Chambers and secure holding cells.
- The courthouse includes a BC Supreme Court registry. Says Penner, 'We will be able to continue having Supreme Court jury trials in Chilliwack,maintaining Chilliwack's place as the regional hub for justice services in the eastern Fraser Valley.'
- Immediately to the north, a 3-storey office building houses Crown Counsel, Community Corrections, Family Justice workers and Chilliwack's Economic Partners Corporation, and a small caf'.
- An outside terrace, complete with a clock tower, complements the site.
Barry Penner pays tribute to the builders and planners for maximizing the limited space and dollars available. The complex has been hailed as a triumph of cooperation and creativity among the Attorney-general's planners, BC Buildings Corporation, the City of Chilliwack, and the private developer, Van Maren Construction of Chilliwack. MLA Penner says Chilliwack is fortunate to have a new courthouse, because the previous government tried to close down Chilliwack's court facilities in 1997. Chilliwack has had court services since Judge Begbie traveled here to conduct circuit court in 1894. Barry Penner was still a newly elected MLA when the closure announcement was made, and he helped form a special group (the Coalition for Justice) to examine the negative impacts of the intended closure. The closure announcement was especially upsetting since the former NDP government promised prior to the 1996 election to build a new courthouse in Chilliwack. Penner initiated a petition, which was eventually signed by more than 14,000 people in the upper Fraser Valley, and presented it in the Legislature. On a cold, wet day in February 1997, more than 1500 Chilliwack residents from all walks of life crowded the streets around the old courthouse to demonstrate their desire to maintain court services in the community. Following intensive lobbying efforts, former NDP Attorney-General Ujjal Dosanjh announced a delay in the Chilliwack courthouse closure plan. In the meantime, a government consultant made troubling recommendations that put Chilliwack's court facilities back under a cloud. More than two years after the original announcement of closure, Penner was still pressing the attorney-general -- in the legislature and in person - seeking clarification of the government's plans for Chilliwack's facilities. Finally, after intensive discussions between Chilliwack and Victoria, provincial funding was announced, under a 'design-build' plan, for a new facility with 5 courtrooms. The City of Chilliwack was a key participant in making the project possible. The whole project, says Penner, is a 'model for the future', as government participates in a 'public-private partnership' to bring the facilities to completion. We have a great looking new courthouse that will serve our community well for many years, and yet the cost was very reasonable considering what has been accomplished,' said Penner. The official opening was a wonderful event for many Chilliwack residents who, along with myself, worked so hard to keep a courthouse in our community.'
Barry chats with RCMP Corporal Jason Knudtson outside the new Law Courts complex.
In the fall of 1999, the former NDP government planned to spend $5 million to make some repairs to the ageing courthouse. Penner and former Mayor John Les were able to convince former Attorney General Ujjal Dosanjh to consider applying the money to construction of a new court facility, rather than 'spending good money after bad.'
