12/9/04:
City Council, Community Leaders and City Staff gathered on December 9, 2004 to officially open the new Thornton Justice Center.

Members of the Police Color Guard and a formation of officers began the ceremony with a flag raising. Thornton Mayor, Noel Busck; City Manager, Jack Ethredge and several other presenters spoke in appreciation for the hard work and dedication it required to bring the Justice Center to completion.  Members of Thornton's City Council officially cut the ribbon on the facility and people were then treated to full tours of the facility.

11/15/04:
Police operations begins the transition to the new facilities.  Both facilities are operational during the transition, with the new facility open to the public beginning on 11/16/04.

A grand opening celebration for the facility is planned for 12/9/04 with a ribbon cutting at 4 p.m.  Tours of the facility will be held on that day until 6 p.m.

10/30/04:
Thornton's Municipal Court makes the move to the new facilities.

10/26/04:
A panel of industry experts has awarded Colorado Construction Magazine's prestigious "Gold Hard Hat" awards for excellence in Construction and two Thornton projects received this distinguished honor.

The Thornton Justice Center (I-25 and Thornton Parkway) won a Silver Gold Hard Hat Award for Outstanding Mechanical/Electrical Project.

The Thornton Justice Center (and adjacent Civic Center Park) is considered one of  the largest projects that the City of Thornton has taken on in more than two decades.

The court facility is connected by a walkway with a two-story glass-truss wall to the police wing, and a plaza at the entrance featuring a memorial to fallen officers.

The facility was designed to accommodate the various traffic flows throughout the building and still provide for superior security. The ability to secure, process and transport detainees in the same building that houses both a public and a judicial wing created some critical challenges for the design team.

The team created spectacular views of the Front Range through bullet-proof glass that gives an open feeling in a secure environment, with attractive yet tamper-proof fixtures that transcend simple functionality.

Features in the 21,080-sq-ft court facility include two courtrooms, judges and magistrate chambers, video arraignment, jury areas and administration.

The 71,746-sq-ft police building houses juvenile and adult holding cells, records rooms, office spaces, a dispatch center, training rooms, evidence storage and lab space.

The Thornton Justice Center construction team included Brinkley Sargent Architects, Humphries Poli Architects, Martin/Martin, ME Engineers, Nolte Associates, AKS Engineers and Quality Electric, Inc.

10/04:
Interior work on the Thornton Justice Center is proceeding rapidly and it is anticipated that Police and Court personnel may make the move into the facility by December of 2004.

9/04:
The exterior of the Thornton Justice Center is nearly complete. Interior work is well underway with an anticipated opening in the next few months. Landscaping has been placed in Civic Center Park and a fountain at the center of the main water feature has been completed.

8/04:
Rapid construction of the Thornton Justice Center and Civic Center Park continues.

7/04:
Progress on the Thornton Justice Center continues at a solid pace. Construction of Civic Center Park (just to the north of the Justice Center) is also proceeding well.

6/04:
Construction of the Thornton Justice Center is coming along rapidly. See a month-by-month photo progression in the photo gallery along with shots of Civic Center Park under construction.

3/04:
Both the Police and Court building interiors are in various stages of completion within Thornton's Justice Center Project. The first floor of the Police Building has bathroom tile and drywall finishing taking place whereas fourth floor only has the wall layout completed.

The exterior of the facility is also in various stages of completion with some of the masonry veneer rounds on the north end of the building being completed. The east side is being prepared for installation.

The Civic Center Park Project has completed the demolition of the old Croke Lake pump house and the shaping of the trail and lake edge. Currently, the irrigation system for the park is being installed. The project is on schedule and is anticipated to be completed in the fall.

Photos on the project's progress are posted on our site.

12/03:
The Thornton Justice Center, a facility for police and courts, is taking shape with the completion of both the Police and Court buildings structural framing as well as the parking structure. The roofing and exterior walls along with the interior partitions are also coming along well.

The park portion of the project has completed the demolition of the old Croke Lake pump house and the shaping of the trail and lake edge. Installation of the bridge as well as the vault for the fountain has recently been completed. The project is on schedule and is anticipated to be completed in the fall of 2004.

10/03:
The upper floors of the Justice Center begin to take shape.

8/03:
Recently, the elevator cores for the police facility have been constructed to their full height of 60 feet and the steel skeleton is rapidly taking shape around them.

The court building foundation walls have just begun and will soon catch up to the police structure. Also completed recently was the exporting of over 25,000 cubic yards of dirt from the Civic Center Park hillside. This work will result in transforming the old drop off into Croke Lake into a relatively gradual slope with a winding trail leading to the new lake edge.

The overall project is scheduled for completion in late fall 2004.

7/03:
The Justice Center begins to take shape.

5/27/03:
A ceremonial groundbreaking event was held to celebrate the construction of Thornton's Justice Center.

5/03:
The following story is published in The Thornton Quarterly:

"For 20 years, Thornton's Civic Center has been home to the Police Department and the majority of the City's other departments. When the Civic Center opened in 1983, the City's population was just approaching 40,000 people and the Police Department had about 65 officers. Now the City has about 96,000 people and the number of Police officers and support personnel has more than doubled.

As you might imagine, space is at a premium within the Civic Center. Currently, it's not uncommon to see several police officers sharing the same desk and Thornton's Courts Division is also feeling the squeeze. The same story is true for almost every department in the Civic Center.

Thankfully, the solution is on the way. A new Justice Center, located just across from the Civic Center, will be the new home for the Police Department and Thornton's Courts Division. Construction is slated to begin this spring and finish in the autumn of 2004.

"Currently, we're at maximum capacity in both work areas and locker room space. The new Justice Center will provide some much needed space and also allow the City to have its own dispatch center for both police and fire," says Deputy Chief of Police Tom Manka. "The Justice Center will also be big enough to accommodate years of planned growth for the Police Department," Manka says. "We'll also have more room to conduct training for our officers."

When the Police and Courts move into the new Justice Center, the City will remodel the 40,000 square feet of space currently used by the Police Department and Courts Division and then move some of the City's other operations into that area."

4/3/03:
Construction notice to proceed was given for the project.