State Rejects Former Theater As Temporary District Court Venue
The New Hampshire Supreme Court has turned thumbs down on converting the empty Latchis Theater into a temporary new location for Keene District Court, despite what County officials thought was a pretty good deal. Commissioner Roger T. Zerba told WKBK morning host Dan Mitchell Friday in exchange for renting space in a rejuvenated Latchis for the short term, the County would sell the State the current County Courthouse property, where the State could consolidate all the local courts under one expanded roof. The County bought the Latchis building several years ago, and has gone through several ideas for what to do with it since.
Ironically, space turned out to be one stumbling block, according to Zerba.
At most, the Latchis might have been good, in refurbished form, for around 15,000 square feet for court use...more than 3 times the existing space at City Hall. But state officials say even a temporary new District Court will need at least 26,000. The state also has a longer-term idea of what "temporary" means...10 years or more, which is nearly double what the County officials had presumed.
So what happens to the Latchis now? Well, the City may need a big new parking garage one day....
