Hidalgo Courthouse Nears Completion

EDINBURG — The new Hidalgo County Courthouse only has a few more things that need fixing, such as the outside stucco, jail toilets that offer no privacy, before county staff can start to move into the new building, according to County Judge Richard Cortez.

The stucco repair doesn’t sound great until one learns that only approximately five percent of the building’s exterior, its south side, has a problem with the building material.

“The (rain) gets between the wall and the stucco,” said Judge Cortez.

How did this happen?

“The contractor didn’t install it how it was designed (to be installed),” said the judge.

When county staff asked for an explanation — why wasn’t the stucco installed like it was designed to be installed — the contractor wanted to argue that the way the exterior stucco was installed “is okay.”

Cortez said, “Well, no, it wasn’t designed that way.”

While the county judge admits that it will take “some time” to fix the stucco, “we don’t need to fix it to occupy the building.”

That’s good news considering that the original completion date for the new courthouse was three long years ago, 2021. Then it got bumped to the fall of 2022, and here we are, almost moving into the fall of 2024.

When the new courthouse, valued at approximately $185 million, first broke ground in November 2018, Ramon Garcia was on his way out as county judge after serving for three terms and Cortez was on his way in after serving as McAllen mayor for two terms.

During the construction of the new courthouse, two of the precincts have also changed commissioners — precincts 3 and 4.

The Criticism

Still, the delays have heaped criticism on county officials, past and present, since it first broke ground in November 2018, meant to replace the current standing courthouse still in operation, built in 1954.

The reasons for the (almost) three-year completion delay have never been fully explained by anyone.

For his part, in past interviews, Judge Richard Cortez has voiced his frustration, pointing to his time as McAllen mayor when he and the city commission, city staff, saw the completion of multiple city projects, including a new convention center, international bridge, both of which came in on time and on budget. Why this county project proved so different, that’s yet to be determined.

At one point last year, the contractor, the Morganti Group, walked off the job, and since then, approximately 16 construction supervisors have come and gone, while Jacobs Engineering was paid to serve as project manager.

Discussing his two terms spent as McAllen mayor, Cortez said, “The city would hire a designer, a builder, and when change orders came along, we’d ask why are there change orders? If it was a design problem, we’d have to punish the designer. Whoever was responsible for a mistake would pay to remedy the mistake. If there is going to be blame for something, that blame would be very specific.”

For whatever reason, that model of success hasn’t been at play with regard to construction of the new Hidalgo County courthouse.

Aside from rehashing the frustration that’s been tied to this project for almost four years running, the good news, said Judge Cortez, is that if he were to place a bet, he’d bet that the county will be moved into the new courthouse by the end of this year.

Work Still Pending

Indeed, Cortez said the county can now see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“We’ve narrowed it down to the stairwell. There has to be a certain (degree of) ventilation in the stairwell for so many minutes, and we’re working on that.”

Also, the new courthouse is fully automated (call it a smart building), everything is on a timer, and there are a couple of outstanding issues with that, which still need fixing, he said.

“The roof is not leaking, but (there is some) moisture there.”

The good news?

“I think that’s it,” said Cortez, running through the short list of things still in need of a remedy.

“I am very confident that I will be going to the City of Edinburg in a week or two to ask them if we can occupy the building (an occupancy permit).”

Before that can happen, however, “the (state) jail standards people have to come in and check that everything is fine (up to standards),” said the county judge.

One other thing, though, but it’s a relatively minor problem in the grand scheme of things, unless it’s you sitting on the hot seat, so to speak.

When a jailed prisoner is seated on the toilet taking care of business, there is currently no privacy shield in place. So anyone walking by one of the jail windows can see inside during a time when some semblance of privacy is key.

“So they’re going to re-do that,” said the county judge.

All in all, though, despite almost a three-year completion delay, the good news is, the new Hidalgo County Courthouse is “this much closer” to being occupied.

Finally.