Rockville City Council takes heat over courthouse location

Supporters of library site plead their case

Hanessian and other speakers were responding to the council’s unanimous decision to initiate a review that could lead to historic designation for the old library, the building slated to be demolished in order to make way for the new courthouse.

Labeling the now-vacant library historic was seen by opponents as an attempt to block the courthouse project the city has been unable to stop.

‘‘That is not a historic building,” former Mayor Rose G. Krasnow told the council. ‘‘That is a building that none of us has ever been fond of and it is not even close to 50 years old.”

Municipal designation is not likely to trump the state’s ability to knock down the 1971 building and construct a new courthouse. But Mayor Susan R. Hoffmann and City Councilwoman Anne M. Robbins say the vote was symbolic opposition to a bad plan that would harm the surrounding West End neighborhood.

On Monday, Krasnow and other speakers challenged residential contentions that the six-story courthouse plan would negatively impact neighborhood safety and traffic levels.

The courthouse project is part of a deal in which the state swapped $6 million for Town Center redevelopment for the city’s consent on the library site, she said.

‘‘The central issue here is about trust and having Rockville keep its promises,” West End resident Jacques Gelin said.

City officials say no deal was ever codified.

Last week, the council agreed to send a representative to Annapolis to testify against current courthouse plan, something that critics call an embarrassment for the District 17 delegation.

In the process, Mayor Susan R. Hoffmann blistered the District 17 delegation, saying she was ‘‘ashamed for my colleagues at the state level for not being with us on this.”

On Monday, she apologized for the language she used that night, saying it ‘‘was stronger than I intended.”

Aside from that easing of tone, council members did not back away from their resolution against the current site plan and intention to oppose members of their own delegation in Annapolis.

‘‘I wish there were a graceful way out of this, but there doesn’t seem to be,” Councilwoman Phyllis R. Marcuccio said.