Ground to be Broken for Joint Justice Center

Seneca County and the city of Tiffin, Ohio, will participate in a groundbreaking ceremony for the Joint Justice Center at Courthouse Square in downtown Tiffin today, July 22. The long-anticipated project is the first joint county-city court system housed under the same roof in the state of Ohio.

The ceremony begins at 10 a.m. with the presentation of the colors by the United Veterans Council. City and county officials will be on hand to speak and assist in the groundbreaking. The brand new 36,000-square-foot facility is projected to cost about $14 million and include the city of Tiffin’s Municipal Court and Clerk of the Courts, as well as the county’s Common Pleas Court, Clerk of the Courts and Probation Department. Silling Associates has been tapped for the architecture of the project while the Gilbane Building Company will cover construction management.

The first floor will be a public entrance with space for security screening, as well as offices for the title clerk and legal clerk and central holding cells. The second floor is devoted to Tiffin’s Municipal Court, with space for the courtroom, a jury deliberation room, the judge’s office suite and an office for the Clerk of Courts. The third and fourth floors are devoted to the Seneca County Common Pleas Courts and include courtroom space, hearing rooms, jury deliberation rooms and office suites for the judges.

As construction begins, the leadership team for the project has asked the Seneca County Historical Society and the Tiffin Historic Trust to organize a group of local historic representatives to coordinate the assembly of items for a time capsule to be sealed into an interior wall of the building. During the Seneca County Fair, there will be a collection box for suggestions in the Seneca County and Seneca County Township Association Tent near the entertainment building.

Suggestions also can be sent to: Time Capsule Ideas, c/o County Commissioners, 111 Madison St., Tiffin, OH 44883 or emailed to nsmith@seneca-county.com.