PROVIDENCE –– Facing heavy local resistance, state officials have abandoned plans to build a $71-million Blackstone Valley Courthouse in Lincoln.

Instead, they hope to erect a judicial complex in Smithfield, at a substantially higher cost.

The House Finance Committee yesterday heard testimony from the state judiciary hours after it announced revised plans to move the 187,000-square foot complex to Route 116 in Smithfield, where the state already owns 13 acres of land between Douglas Pike and Farnum Pike, not far from Bryant University.

The head of the state judiciary, Supreme Court Chief Justice Frank J. Williams, has pushed hard for a new courthouse to serve people living in Northern Rhode Island, hoping to ease congestion at the Garrahy Judicial Complex in Providence.

The General Assembly approved plans last June to borrow as much as $71 million to build the facility in Lincoln. Yesterday, the judiciary presented an amended plan to borrow as much as $88.58 million.

Should the Assembly approve the revised plan, the total cost to taxpayers will be $140.6 million over 20 years, according to judiciary spokesman Craig N. Berke, who attributed the increase largely to the higher price of construction materials.

The original plan assumed that construction would begin this summer, while the revised plan delays construction until the summer of 2009. Also, the previous price tag did not include a debt service reserve fund of approximately $7 million.

Last session, the proposal drew some criticism, given Rhode Island’s financial situation. The state is facing deficits of at least $151 million for the current fiscal year and $384 million next year. Both numbers are expected to grow once revenue forecasts are released next month.

“Chief Justice Williams is sensitive to the expense,” Berke said. “But the need is not going to go away and the costs are only going to increase.”

The amended plan was worked on by Senate President Joseph Montalbano, D-Lincoln, Rep. Peter Petrarca, D-Lincoln, and Williams, who acknowledged that Lincoln officials were concerned with potential traffic problems at the original site on Old Louisquisset Pike on land behind the William Davies Career and Technical High School.

“I promised the people of Lincoln, the Lincoln town administrator, the Lincoln Town Council … that we would examine other sites, and we have done that in good faith,” Williams said in a statement.

Smithfield officials are ecstatic about the change, according to Sen. John J. Tassoni Jr., D-Smithfield. He said local restaurants and businesses would benefit from the influx of court employees and residents drawn to the complex.

“I think we hit a grand slam,” Tassoni said.

The House Finance Committee did not vote on the revised proposal yesterday.

Committee Chairman Steven M. Costantino, D-Providence, asked about the cost of operating the new facility, and specifically whether new staff would be hired.

While the judiciary initially responded that staff would simply be transferred from the Garrahy complex to the new courthouse, Berke later said that “three or four” additional maintenance workers would be needed, as well as about four more security guards.

The judiciary has not conducted a recent analysis detailing the projected cost of operating and maintaining the building, Berke said.

The courthouse would handle cases from Pawtucket, Central Falls, Cumberland, Lincoln, Woonsocket, North Smithfield, Smithfield, Johnston, Scituate, Foster, Glocester and Burrillville. It would have about 500 parking spaces, at least 12 courtrooms and support staff for District Court, Superior Court, Family Court and the Traffic Tribunal.

speoples@projo.com