A break in a small water line has left a big building in High Point closed for a week.
A one-inch pressurized water line rupture on Thursday, Jan. 20 on the fourth floor of the Guilford County Courthouse at 505 E. Greene Dr. in High Point has left the courthouse closed for the week of Monday, Jan. 24 through Friday, Jan. 28, while line repairs and water damage mitigation takes place.
The High Point office of Guilford County Family Justice Center is in the courthouse, but has a separate entrance. The Justice Center won’t be affected and that office will remain open with the same schedule as usual.
The rest of the building is another story.
Guilford County Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Joe Craig issued a statement summing up the situation.
“It is Guilford County’s highest priority to ensure the safety and security of our staff and the public who utilize this building to conduct business daily,” Craig said. “The building houses employees from Guilford County Administrative Office of the Courts and Guilford County Government. All agencies have standing mitigation plans to ensure essential services can continue to operate in these types of situations.”
In recent years, Guilford County has done a lot of renovation at the courthouse in High Point – and even made a new entrance for the Family Justice Center– but, over the years, busted pipes have caused problems in quite a few of the county’s aging buildings.
A Friday, Jan. 21 press release from Guilford County stated that the east side of the building saw water damage on all floors due to the rupture in the line.
According to county officials, fortunately, no records were damaged.
Guilford County Facilities Department staff have assessed the situation and stated that the repair work is expected to be complete by next weekend.
The building should reopen fully on Monday, Jan. 31. That’s the plan, at least.
The courthouse is quite a hive of activity every week so this week court officials had a lot of instructions to publicize for those with court business:
- Those with pending court cases scheduled during the outage are asked to call the Greensboro office instead at 336-412-7777.
- The High Point Magistrates Office will be working out of the High Point Police Department at 1730 Westchester Drive in High Point in an attempt to keep most first appearances hearings from having to move to Greensboro.
- High Point Criminal Superior Court sessions scheduled for next week are canceled. They’ll be rescheduled for a later date.
- Cases being prosecuted by the Guilford County District Attorney’s Office in High Point will be rescheduled. Anybody who needs to contact the High Point Office should call 336-822-6710 or the Greensboro Office at 336-412-7600.
- All other High Point court matters will be referred to Greensboro until the courthouse in High Point reopens.
To learn the status of upcoming court cases slated to be held at the courthouse in High Point, you can contact the Guilford County Clerk of Courts Office by calling 336-412-7300.
Those with court business are being encouraged to stayed tuned this week to www.nccourts.gov for any updates or early re-opening information.