The Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court Family Division will get a new home this year at the former offices of the Research Development Corp.
The provincial government has earmarked $1.6 million in the upcoming provincial budget for renovations.
The contract was awarded earlier this month to JMJ Holdings, headed by general manager Shannon Broderick. The new location will be 68 Portugal Cove Rd.
The top two floors of the Argyle Building will be renovated to accommodate the courts.
As it stands, the Department of Transportation and Works hasn’t decided what will happen with the existing family court building at 21 Kings Bridge Rd.
“The Argyle Building is a larger facility that will meet both the immediate infrastructure needs of the court and future requirements and has more available public parking,” read a statement from Brian Scott, communications director with the Department of Transportation and Works.
The space was freed up after government did away with the Research and Development Corp. in July 2017. The corporation was integrated within the Department of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation and rebranded InnovateNL.
InnovateNL, headed by Killick Capital founder Mark Dobbin, has the same mandate as the Research and Development Corp., to distribute about $40 million in funding for economic development in the province.
The changes to the family court go back to the 2016 provincial budget, when the Liberals committed to a $1-million expansion over two years in order to reduce a backlog of cases being heard at the court.
The renovations are expected to be complete by the end of the year.
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