Court of Appeals Ribbon-Cutting Held Jan. 11

Article Date: Sunday, January 17, 2010

Written By: Russell Rawlings

Chief Judge John Martin, joined by Paul Jeffreys and Katherine Peele, cuts the ribbon.

Ribbon-cutting festivities for the newly renovated N.C. Court of Appeals Building were held Monday morning, Jan. 11. The ceremony commemorated the return of the Court of Appeals to its home after roughly a year and a half in the old Wachovia Bank building on Wilmington Street. The $9 million renovation effort marked the first major renovation of this building since it opened as the home of the state Supreme Court in 1913.

Chief Judge John C. Martin conducted the ribbon-cutting event, flanked by an impressive assembly of dignitaries that included current and former members of the Court of Appeals, current and former members of the N.C. Supreme Court including Chief Justice Sarah Parker, Gov. Bev Perdue, and Attorney General Roy Cooper.

Former Chief Judges Sid Eagles and Gerald Arnold attended the ceremony. Additionally, deceased Chief Judges Raymond Mallard, Fred Hedrick and Earl Vaughn, as noted in Judge Martin’s remarks below, were also represented by members of their respective families.

Prior to cutting the ribbon leading to the second floor of what is now a most impressive structure, Judge Martin called upon Katherine Peele of the architectural firm LS3P Associates and Paul Jeffreys of construction firm D.S. Simmons, Inc., to provide remarks.  

Both expressed their sincere appreciation for having been selected to work on the renovation project. It was evident from their remarks that this was true, and given the tight working space and the age and condition of the building, it was equally imperative that they and all others involved in the project worked well together.

 

Peele and Jeffreys then joined Judge Martin in cutting the ceremonial red ribbon, followed by tours of the five-story facility and a reception.

 

In addition to the chief judge, the Court of Appeals is comprised of Judges James A. Wynn Jr., Linda M. McGee, Robert C. Hunter, Wanda G. Bryant, Ann Marie Calabria, Rick Elmore, Sanford L. Steelman Jr., Martha A. Geer, Barbara Jackson, Linda Stephens, Donna S. Stroud, Robert N. Hunter Jr., Sam Ervin IV and Cheri Beasley.

 

Judge Martin’s remarks follow:

Chief Judge John C. Martin’s introductory remarks and acknowledgments, presented on the occasion of the formal ribbon-cutting ceremony for the renovated North Carolina Court of Appeals, on Monday morning, Jan. 11, 2010. 

Almost two years ago, on the last day of January 2008, we gathered in the courtroom upstairs to commemorate the 40^th Anniversary of the first session of this Court. At that gathering, we announced that this grand old building, which some say is second only to the Capitol in its classic beauty (and others say it might not be second) and has been the home of so many of the great institutions of our State government, and yet has suffered from inattention over those many years, would undergo a complete renovation.

 

Today marks the completion of that process, which actually began over four years ago. It is a great day; a day for which so many of our present and former judges have been waiting for such a long time, indeed there has been talk of renovating this building at least since 1985, when I first came to this Court. It is a day which the current judges and staff of this Court have been acutely awaiting since May 2008 when we moved to temporary quarters. The wait is over – today, when we cut this ribbon and you have a chance to walk throughout the building, you will see that this is once again a building of which the citizens of North Carolina may be very proud, housing an institution of which they should also be very proud.

 

Welcome to each and every one of you and thank you all so very much for coming to share this occasion with us.

 

There are so many special guests here that if I tried to recognize and name you all, we would be late starting our 1 o’clock session. There are some folks, however, that I must surely give a special welcome.

           

We are particularly proud that our governor, Bev Perdue, could be with us today;

 

Our great Chief Justice and the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court – five of whom are former members of this Court;

 

Members of the Council of State, including our Attorney General, Roy Cooper;

 

Members of the Governor’s Cabinet, especially Secretary of Administration Britt Cobb, whose department oversaw the renovations;

 

We welcome so many of our former colleagues who have returned to join us for this event, and are particularly honored that Mrs. Anne Saunders, the daughter of our first Chief Judge, Raymond Mallard, along with Mrs. Pat Hedrick, the wife of former Chief Judge Fred Hedrick, and Rose Vaughn Williams, the daughter of former Chief Judge Earl Vaughn are here. Our special thanks to Mrs. Saunders and her mother for their generosity in providing us with so many of Chief Judge Mallard’s papers and other materials for our historical exhibit in the Court’s gallery;

 

We are also glad that Stephanie Ross, who is the president of D. S. Simmons, Inc., our general contractor, and Paul Jeffreys, Vice President of Construction Services are here with us this morning.

 

Again, thank you all for coming.

 

There are so many people to thank for their part in the project:

 

Former Gov. Mike Easley who recognized that  the State’s 2nd highest Court needed a safe and comfortable place to do its work and helped us secure the funding;

 

Greg Driver of the State Construction Office for his perseverance and encouragement, and for his assistance so many ways in getting this project under way;

 

All of the people who had a hand in designing the project:

 

We interviewed a number of architectural firms, and we picked the right one for this job – LS3P Associates: Katherine Peele, Leigh Stewart (headed design team), Doug Dorney, and their staff all did a great job in creating the plans for what we have here today;

 

Ron Little from State Construction;

 

From the Administrative Office of the Courts, Bill Stuckey;

 

And from our Court, Doug McCullough, John Connell, Linda McGee, and Bob Northrup

 

Our goal from the beginning was to marry the historical attributes of this beautiful old building with the efficiency and utility of a modern office, and I think you will agree, when you walk through, that our design team hit a home run.

 

A good design is only part of the picture, you need to get the right people to build the design. We knew this would not be a simple project, and we were looking for the best people to build it. We were so fortunate that D.S. Simmons, Inc. submitted the most favorable bid, was awarded the contract, and then engaged so many talented subcontractors.

 

           

With Paul Jeffreys and job superintendent John Breshears from D.S. Simmons, project architect David O’Shea from LS3P, Ron Little from State Construction, Bill Stuckey from AOC, and our own Appellate Courts IT staff, we truly had the “Dream Team” on this job. I should add that Bill Stuckey and his staff, Dawn Underwood, Brenda Allen, and Bonnie Goad, arranged for securing badly needed furnishings and equipment for us and arranged an almost painless move back to our offices.

 

I want you all to know that throughout the design phase, and the construction phase, everyone of us was very mindful that as good stewards of the taxpayers’ money, we were required to make the very best use of the available funds. Together, this team was able (1) to bring all of the Court’s 91 employees under one roof for the first time in ten years; (2) provide a safe, comfortable, and efficient work space; (3) equip the Court with technological capacity which is, I believe, competitive with any state appellate court in the country; and (4) to do that within budget, without wasting a single square foot or a single red cent. And the Court remained fully operational throughout the entire process and was not closed for even an hour because of it.

 

We also thank Danny Moody and the Supreme Court Historical Society for creating and mounting the beautiful exhibit on the third floor which chronicles the history of the Court. I think you will enjoy seeing it.

 

Finally, special thanks to Judge Linda McGee and her assistant, Peggy Seifert, for all of their hard work in arranging for this event.

 

Please join me in showing our appreciation to all of these folks.

 

I would now like to introduce to you Katherine Peele, Vice President and Principal in the Raleigh Office of LS3P Associates, and thereafter, Paul Jeffreys, Vice President of Construction Services for D.S. Simmons, Inc. for remarks. LS3P and D.S. Simmons are the sponsors of our reception which will follow the ribbon cutting, and LS3P also provided the invitations and printed program.

After we cut this ribbon, please join us for a reception in the third floor gallery.