Tauranga courthouse renovation under way

Construction work has begun on the Tauranga courthouse refurbishment project with six courtrooms, four conference rooms and 10 judges' chambers being added to the Ministry of Justice-owned McLean House.
The building, located adjacent to the existing courthouse on Cameron Rd, is scheduled for completion by May 31, project manager Peter Worger said.
The new courtrooms include replacements for the two existing courtrooms in Harrington House, which will be used as family and civil courtrooms. The other four rooms will be for mediation and settlement conference hearings.
The lease on Harrington House is due to expire and will be relinquished once the refurbishment is complete.
Mr Worger said while there would be no change to the existing courthouse there would be a secure "sky bridge" erected, linking both buildings for use by judicial officers and Ministry of Justice staff only.
While construction began on August 31, work so far has been limited mostly to establishing essential services required by contractors to begin remaining minor demolition work inside McLean House by the end of the month.
Mr Worger said along with the main contractor Fletcher Construction, at the height of the project there would be as many as 25 different companies involved, with the majority local contractors.
Mr Worger said while the facade of the building will remain the same, McLean House will definitely have a "Tauranga flavour" incorporated into its internal design features.