Fentress served as the court consultant on a team led by White & Borgognoni Architects (WBA). WBA was hired by the County Board of Franklin County (IL) to provide design services for a new 46,000 GSF courthouse for the Franklin County Circuit Court. The new courthouse would replace the existing historic courthouse that has been located on the town square in Benton, IL since 1875. The existing courthouse has inadequate security throughout, including a lack of separate circulation paths for prisoners, judges, staff, and the public, and has significantly undersized courtrooms and office spaces.
As part of the WBA team, Fentress was responsible for developing an operations analysis, Program of Requirements (POR), and schematic design. Fentress facilitated stakeholder interviews to gather data and inform analysis of demographic, economic, caseload, and staffing trends. The trend analysis was used to develop forecasts of future judges and staff. The forecasted staffing levels, combined with operational needs and courthouse planning best practices, were used to develop the POR - a detailed listing of the spaces and associated square footage required in the new Franklin County Courthouse.
