Trial Tests Courthouse's Neighbors

In June 2002, the Alexandria City Council voted to install as many as 17 trailers near the courthouse to accommodate the hundreds of journalists expected to cover the trials. The cluster of trailers, on a grassy 1.2-acre lot in front of the courthouse, was to include ports for laptop computers, telephones, restrooms and a concession stand.

In July 2002, workers began removing sod from the field in preparation for installing the trailers. By that time, Lindh had short-circuited his trial by pleading guilty.

Then, the Moussaoui case went into a legal deep freeze, delayed for more than three years by complications that included a heated debate over whether Moussaoui would have access to top al-Qaeda detainees in U.S. custody.

In the spring of 2004, the media center site was purchased by the company now erecting the Westin Hotel.

City officials defend the earlier preparations and say that no one overreacted. "We were very concerned about any inconvenience these trials would cause the citizens, particularly of Carlyle Towers," said Steven Mason, a city spokesman. "We always err on the side of, if nothing else, being totally prepared. These security measures are necessary to ensure the safety of the public."

City and federal officials have been preparing intensively in recent months as well. Mason said representatives of the city and the major television networks held a brainstorming meeting to figure out where TV satellite trucks would be parked in the absence of a media center. Eisenhower Avenue was chosen as the least disruptive spot.

The city also met with officials from Regent Partners LLC, the Atlanta-based company building the Westin, to coordinate when the construction site should receive its deliveries of building materials. "It's been very cooperative," said Jim Feldman, a Regent Partners senior vice president. "There's been a lot of planning and discussing and talking."

As for the road closures, Alexandria Police Department representatives recently met with property managers in the area near the courthouse to make sure the word gets out. "I send them periodic e-mails to let them know that this day changed, that day changed, what road closure will be at what time," said Capt. Tim Dickinson, commander of the police department's special operations division.

"That's the balance you need in these kinds of cases; the need for security, but you have to balance that against the need to let people conduct their everyday lives," he said.

Despite the preparations, city officials are urging motorists to stay away from the courthouse area on days when the trial is in session.

"Obviously, traffic is already very congested," Mason said. "We have publicized, gotten the word out as best we can. But traffic is going to be an issue.''