Justice

Criminal Justice

Brown County Courthouse
Green Bay, WI

Listen
The strategic objective of this project was to renovate, restore and expand the 100+ year-old historic facility to provide for the needs of the county judicial system for the next thirty years.

Engage
Users of the new facility needed additional courtrooms, judge’s chambers, and flexible office space.  Additional space was the primary need, specifically 10,000 sf for Clerk of Courts and 34,000 square feet for two courtrooms, arraignment court, law library and lunchroom.

Design
The solution involved exterior stone cleaning, new windows and refinish of the bell tower, uncovering of original murals, as well as all interior finishes being refinished to original condition. The south addition provided 10,000 sf for the Clerk of Courts operations. The plaza level above provided a public gathering space. The building structure is capable of supporting two to three additional floors if expansion is desired in the future. The west addition is 34,500 sf and connects the Detention Center, the Law Enforcement Center, and the Courthouse. It houses two Courtrooms, the Arraignment Court, Law Library, and lunchroom.  The new use provides: eight Courtrooms, one Family Court, Court Commissioners, one Arraignment Court, Law Library, Holding Rooms, Jury Assembly Room, Register in Probate, Clerks offices, and a lunch/break room.

“This project incorporated many historical restoration processes and techniques, along with specific engineering, technology, and landscaping elements that turned the out-of-date 1908 building into the leading government facility for Brown County.”