Cortez: County workers should be moving in to new courthouse by July

EDINBURG, Texas – Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez has given the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service an update on the new county courthouse in Edinburg.

Cortez said he is hopeful that county workers still start moving in to the building by the summer.

The new courthouse, built next to the old one in downtown Edinburg, should have opened years ago. But it has been dogged by structural and contactual issues.

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Cortez said:

“You know, the present administration, we inherited that situation. So we had the contracts, we had everybody already in place when we took it over. I’m happy to report that I think we’re just around the corner. 

“We have an agreement with them (the contractors) that they should finish it by the end of this month. I think that probably is not an unreasonable goal to have. But, I think that the end of May is a very reasonable goal for us to expect that we’ll have some occupancy by the end of May. 

“It will take us another month to work out some details and hopefully start moving people in, in July. At least that’s the best information that I have.”

Asked how many county workers would be based in the new building, Cortez said:

“Oh, golly, I can’t tell you that specific number, but it’s a huge facility and I think everybody that’s going to go in there and look at it is going to be very, very proud. It is state-of-the-art. 

“We’ve grown so much in this county. I believe that we’re in the seventh most populous county in the state of Texas. And there are 254 counties. So we needed a big facility and now that we have it, hopefully by July we’ll be using it.”

Cortez was also asked about parking at the new courthouse. He confirmed the county is working with the City of Edinburg and TxDOT to make sure visitors have ease of access.

“Yes (we are working with the City of Edinburg). Parking is always going to be an issue. We were already in an urban area in downtown Edinburg, so parking is going to be an issue. Our understanding is that Edinburg is going to build a parking garage, so that construction is going to be an interruption.

“And, of course, TxDOT is going to build a loop around the courthouse. So, we’re going to have continued construction and continued impediment to the use of it. But, hey, if you go through all the big cities, there’s always construction going on because because of the need.”

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