ORDER IN THE COURT LONG-AWAITED FACILITY HAS MORE ROOM, GREATER SECURITY.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - The long-awaited $109 million Antelope Valley courthouse has more room to serve the public and better security as well as a few decorative touches that might go unnoticed.

Alongside slate quarried in Chile, Italian tile and fabric imported from Italy, thought was put into the placement of tiles in the courthouse hallways.

``You look at a long hallway and its unending linoleum and tile, the thought was to break it up a bit and put dark-colored tiles in front of the courtrooms,'' Presiding Lancaster Superior Court Judge Steve Ogden said during a pre-opening tour for local news media.

A dedication ceremony for the new building is scheduled for Thursday, and the courthouse is scheduled to open on Oct. 20, ending a 20-year wait.

The courthouse exterior is precast concrete fabricated to simulate sandstone found in Arizona. At the entrance, a glass-encased, barrel-shaped atrium reaches three stories high, allowing sunlight into the main public lobby.

The courthouse, which is named after Supervisor Michael Antonovich, is located on Avenue M near sixth Street West. It will replace a 40-year-old court facility at Avenue J and 10th Street West that is notoriously overcrowded.

Ogden gave a tour of the courthouse Thursday and reminded visitors of how court officials had to improvise with what space they had at the Avenue J site by converting jury assembly rooms and janitor's closets into courtrooms and offices.

The new 380,000-square-foot building has 15 courtrooms, including two in the basement for high-security cases. Six additional courtrooms may be added to handle future growth.

In the high-security courtrooms, defendants will appear behind a glass enclosure. A glass wall will separate attorneys and defendants from the audience.

When asked if the glass was bulletproof, Ogden said he didn't know and added, ``I hope I don't find out.''

``I will miss the ability to talk to people in the audience, which I frequently do when family members are in the audience,'' said Ogden, who will occupy one of the high-security courtrooms.

With the lockup adjoining his courtroom, Ogden said his court will work more efficiently because it won't take as long to move defendants to and from the courtroom.

``Because we have a busy courthouse, when you spend time waiting, it drives me nuts,'' Ogden said. ``When you are waiting, you are not getting things done.''

The state-of-the-art lockup, which can hold 530 defendants, will be better than the one at the Lancaster courthouse, where defendants were walked down back hallways used by staff.

``They are literally within 10 feet to freedom,'' Ogden said, noting an escape attempt in June where a murder defendant ran out of the hallway and was recaptured outside the courthouse with help from a passer-by.

The jury assembly room can seat up to 140 people and is double the size of the current facility, which is a double-wide trailer. The jury room features six data ports to which jurors can hook up their laptop computers.

The clerk's office has 18 filing windows, which will help alleviate the long lines at the traffic window.

``Our largest clientele in terms of numbers is traffic. We serve people through three windows in a side corridor. In the morning, the line for traffic is out the door,'' Ogden said.

The courthouse also features interview rooms and offices for prosecutors, public defenders, probation officers, sheriff's personnel and other court staff.

There also will be 650 parking spaces for customers and jurors, 415 spaces for employees, and 35 spaces reserved for judges in an underground parking lot, a feature that Ogden counts as a favorite perk.

``I will have a cool car at the end of the day in July,'' Ogden said.

Karen Maeshiro, [phone]

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Judge Steve Ogden leads members of the media on a tour of the new Antelope Valley Courthouse in Lancaster.

(2 -- color) Superior Court Judge Steve Ogden checks out the view from his new bench as he leads a pre-opening tour of the Michael D. Antonovich Antelope Valley Courthouse on Thursday.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer