Construction of downtown courthouse on schedule
Building rendering courtesy of Mack Scogin and Merrill Elam Architects.
Contractors said completion of the new federal courthouse in downtown Austin is right on schedule.
The eight-story project is designated for completion in 2012.
The project costs $116 million, and is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It marks the largest federal project under the federal Recovery Act.
Construction will continue to provide jobs as workers build a modern state of the art federal courthouse. As designed and planned, the building is a high-performance, low-energy green building.
The old courthouse was built in the 1930s and outgrew its usefulness.
"For years, the judges that work there were appealing for the funds to build this courthouse," U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, said. "But, for the Recovery Act or the stimulus, as it is popularly known, this building would not be getting built and the courthouses that we need to administer justice here and the probation and the like would not have a sufficient place to be located."
Congressman Doggett has been a huge proponent for the project.
San Antonio's historic Hipolito F. Garcia Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse is also being transformed with Recovery Act money.