"However, there’s been little public discussion of the swap since 2014." Let's see, other than prominent mention in my State of the County address.

The article missed the major reason for needing a new courthouse and that is safety and security. Elevators and very narrow hallways are used to move offenders, judges and court staff. The south courtrooms require offenders to be walked through the lobby where witnesses and victims may be waiting. The jury boxes in some of the smaller court rooms are within arms reach of where the accused sits. The building itself is not sound for earthquakes and cannot be retrofitted without stripping it down to the skeleton. There is no room for jury assembly in the building so it is in the adjacent building that has no direct ADA access so potential jurors have to walked outside and back in to go through security. In addition, secure parking in not available for court staff. Think about the judge walking to their car after a bad divorce or DV case.