CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cuyahoga County's long-awaited Juvenile Justice Center will be outfitted with a $23,000 custom conference table -- one of a plethora of pricey furnishings spurring criticism from the new county government.

Walnut pedestal desks and matching bookcases, $1,000 desk chairs and $3,350 credenzas, bring furnishings for the East 93rd Street

center to $4.2 million, according to

obtained by The Plain Dealer.

"I haven't seen prices that high since 'Antiques Roadshow,'" said county Executive Ed FitzGerald, who inherited the project when he took office in January. "Some of the purchases are indefensible."

The furnishings have become a flashpoint for critics of the project, which began as a $50 million detention center in 2000 and, as a result of many changes and overruns, will likely open next month as a $189 million complex with 32 courtrooms.

County Inspector General Nailah Byrd has been asked to review the history of the project. And council members -- who have been quizzing officials about the building for weeks -- will tour the center for the first time Friday.

Previous Plain Dealer coverage

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July 21, 2000:

April 20, 2004:

Aug. 23, 2006:

Aug. 17, 2008:

"I've got to see this stuff. I can't wait to get there," said Councilman Michael Gallagher, who last month grilled county officials over a $37,000 crosswalk proposed for the facility. "I would bet a little money that very few of these purchases were even questioned."

Juvenile Court officials said Wednesday that they did not select the furniture, that former county commissioners approved the contracts. But the former county administrator said court officials did pick the furniture.

A 118-page list of furnishings includes scores of desks, hundreds of chairs and dozens of tables, from $600 telephone stands to $4,300, 14-foot-long conference tables. It omits any appliances, which have yet to be disclosed.

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center also includes a staff exercise room for judges with a stationary bike, treadmill, rowing machine, a boxing bag and dumbells. Total cost of the room: $21,488.

Other items include 31 coffee makers, at $120 apiece; 24 LCD and plasma televisions, each at $975 or more; and a $12,000 piece of artwork for the great hall.

The center has three jury boxes and deliberation rooms, though the court has had only one jury trial in the last five years.

"The bottom line is somebody made a decision that the Juvenile Justice Center was going to have 100 percent brand-new furniture," FitzGerald said at Tuesday's council meeting. "Somebody decided it was going to be high-end."

Juvenile Court isn't to blame, said court Administrator Marita Kavalec.

"I don't know what the budget is. I don't even know what's been purchased," Kavalec said. "Everything was authorized by the county commissioners. I don't know what the process was for any of those procurements."

Not so, said former county Administrator James McCafferty, who oversaw the commissioners' approvals last year.

"We didn't have any one on our side that said this is what you're getting," McCafferty said.

In fact, he said, commissioners rejected the court's request for a more expensive conference table large enough to seat all the court's magistrates. And the county mandated that all purchases be made through state contracts.

FitzGerald's spokesman, John Kohlstrand, seconded McCafferty's point.

The judges, he said, "were quite involved in choosing the furnishings for this building."

The court was scheduled to move into the new building March 24. But because FitzGerald challenged the court's computer contract, cutting $800,000 from a $2.5 million request, the court's opening has been delayed for weeks.

The delay will cost taxpayers, the court's administrative judge told council members last week. FitzGerald, however, said this week that there are no penalties for pushing back the move date.

The extra scrutiny was warranted, said FitzGerald, adding that he will research whether any of the furniture can be returned.

"We gotta get to the bottom of it," he said, "because justice is not going to be improved by a $1,200 chair."