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Background as written by Thomas L. Doremus, 2020, architect of the R.J. Hughes Justice Complex
Introduction
I joined The Grad Partnership as an Associate Architect early in 1977 and was assigned to work on the Justice Complex project. The partner in charge of that project was David Dibner, and the Project Architect, who was also the Project Manager, was Fredric Rosen. He was responsible for the design of the facility and all of its detailing and furnishing. I worked under Fred and was assigned responsibility for much of the detailing of the courthouse block and its courthouses. But everything I did was directed and approved by Fred, and he remains the overall designer for the Hughes Justice Complex.
Although the team was remarkably small for such a large project, other architects with major influence on the design were John Doran, Construction Manager on the Grad side of the joint venture; Joan Humphreys, architectural designer and detailer; Eunice Chan, Interior Designer for the facility; and David Zugale, who joined us on occasion to offer design and rendering support. There were also Drafters, an occupation that hardly exists anymore in these days of computer drawing.
A joint venture between The Grad Partnership and J. Robert Hillier Architects of Camden had been formed to design and build this important state facility. To my personal knowledge, all of the design was accomplished at The Grad Partnership's offices at One Gateway Center in Newark. Although I believe personnel from the Hillier firm attended monthly progress meetings with the client, I have no personal knowledge of their participation, being told that they would take responsibility for carrying out the construction, once the documents had been prepared by Grad. I never met anyone from their office that I can recall.
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