Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. took NJ Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner on a tour of the Essex County LeRoy F. Smith, Jr. Public Safety Building on Tuesday, September 8th to give the Chief Justice a first-hand look at the new Appellate Division judges’ chambers that are being created. Currently under renovation, the building is being redeveloped from an old jail facility into modern office space that will house Appellate Court judges’ chambers, various State and County offices, and storage space.

"We appreciate Chief Justice Rabner visiting the construction site to see the progress of the renovation and get a first glimpse of what the Appellate Court judges’ chambers and offices will look like. He has been a strong advocate for Essex County and was the moving force behind bringing the Appellate Courts back to Essex for the first time in 25 years," DiVincenzo said. "Renovating the LeRoy Smith Building for office space use will transform an eyesore in our County Government Complex into much-needed office space and create recurring revenue for Essex County," he added.

"We were looking for new space for our Appellate Division and the County Executive came to me a few days later with the idea to relocate to Essex County. After touring today, I can’t tell you how excited we are about this," Chief Justice Stuart Rabner said. "With all the changes being made, the Essex County complex is second to none in the state," he added.

During the tour, the County Executive and Chief Justice walked through sections of the 140,000 square foot building, including floors 8-11 where the Appellate Division will be located. Along the way, DiVincenzo talked about the various improvements made to the building and how the four floors being occupied by the Appellate Court judges’ chambers and offices will be outfitted.

The narrow, barred windows from when the building was used as a jail were removed and replaced with larger windows to allow more natural light inside. In addition, exterior walls at the middle of the building where visitors will enter and exit elevators were replaced with glass to provide spectacular views of Downtown Newark to the east and the new Essex County Veterans Memorial Park to the west. The roof was repaired; asbestos abatement was completed; heating, air conditioning and electrical systems were replaced; and the outside of the building was power washed and cleaned. Work to transform floors 8 to 11 into modern office space has already started. Walls and ceilings are being installed, and floor plans are taking shape.

The Appellate Court judges’ chambers are scheduled to be completed by December 2009 while other offices are anticipated to move in early in 2010.

Also joining the County Executive and Chief Justice on the tour were Essex County Assignment Judge Patricia Costello, Prosecutor Paula Dow and Sheriff Armando Fontoura. They each expressed their support of the re-use of the former jail building and their anticipation for the opening of the Smith Building.

"Thank you, Joe, for making the courts a priority and for providing the jurors and employees with modern, functional space," Costello said. "People are more willing to come to this complex for Jury Duty or other business because of the myriad of things that are being done here," Dow noted. "This is going to be quite a feather in your cap, Joe," Fontoura said. "Another great accomplishment will be the opening of the Veterans Memorial Park later this month," he added.

In addition to the Appellate Division, Essex County entered into an agreement with the NJ Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness to relocate its offices from Washington Street in Newark. In addition, the County has plans to relocate several County offices and agencies to the LeRoy Smith Building, including the Essex County Sheriff’s Office, Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, Essex County Vocational Technical School’s administrative offices, the Essex County Superintendent of School’s Office, the Essex County Improvement Authority, the Essex County Utilities Authority and record storage. The lease agreements with the State and the consolidation of offices into the County-owned LeRoy Smith Building is projected to generate $909,819 in yearly revenue from rents the County will charge and save $783,366 in rental/leasing costs. This will create a total of almost $1.6 million in savings or new, recurring revenue for Essex County.

The LeRoy F. Smith Building was dedicated in June 2008 and named after LeRoy F. Smith, Jr., who served as Associate Director of Emergency Medical Services at UMDNJ for 38 years before he retired in 2007. The structure was originally built in 1970 and had previously been used as the Essex County Jail. It was closed in March 2004 when the County opened its state-of-the-art Essex County Correctional Facility on Doremus Avenue in Newark. The renovations to the LeRoy Smith Building were designed by the Newark architectural firm Greg Comito & Associates. Demolition started in the spring of 2009.