Auburn, NY
aUBURN
CITY
COURTHOUSE
IN PROGRESS
The County of Cayuga owns and maintains space used for various courts and offices at 157 Genesee Street, Auburn, NY. This former U.S. Post Office and Federal Courthouse is a monumental Richardsonian Romanesque limestone and brick civic building that was built in 1888-1890 and expanded in 1913-14 and again in 1937. The original construction was designed by Miffen E. Bell of the United States Treasury Department for the United States Postal Service. The building was surplussed by the federal government in the 1980s and acquired by Cayuga County. The facility continues to function as a civic building, presently housing: Cayuga County Family & Supreme Courts; Auburn City Court and Cayuga County Board of Elections. The building was determined National Register Eligible by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior on May 23, 1983, and was entered into the National Registry on June 11, 1991.
As part of a joint venture between the City of Auburn and the County of Cayuga, TRW was commissioned to renovate and modernize the city court spaces within the County’s historic U.S. Post Office and former Federal Courthouse. Based on a detailed analysis of the existing facility and meetings with project stakeholders, including the Office of Court Administration (OCA a detailed programming and space analysis exercise was developed that expanded and reorganized the city court spaces. Using the historic attributes and aesthetics of this impressive building, TRW designed a renovation of the first floor of the court facility that added a courtroom with associated support spaces, renovated the City Court Clerk’s office, improved the existing courtroom, and provided a new HVAC system. TRW developed construction documents to renovate the City Court spaces that brought the spaces up to current accessibility codes, building codes, met OCA standards, and improved the overall security of both the City and County Courts.
The project is expected to be completed at the end of 2027.