In about two years, possible federal criminals will have an exciting new Los Angeles location at which to be tried. A tipster snapped this photo of the construction so far at First Street and Broadway, where the 10-story federal courthouse is now coming on up after years of delays (work started a little over a year ago). Scheduled to be complete in 2016, the courthouse will have 24 courtrooms and 32 chambers for judges, all in a "floating cube" designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. It's quite a change to see sticks in the ground at this Civic Center site, which for years was nothing but a dirt lot (and occasionally a beach for papier-mâché people).
The courthouse was first proposed in 2001, approved, then halted by lack of funding in 2006 (in fairness, costs had by this time tripled). Central Valley Republican Congressman Jeff Denham also made it his personal crusade to scuttle the courthouse, for some reason, but the US General Services Administration eventually went ahead with a scaled-down design despite his hysterics.
The $300-million project will be 600,000 square feet and is aiming for LEED platinum certification. For those eager to keep more regular tabs on the project's progress, SOM and Clark Construction have installed a webcam to watch over the site, so everyone can watch the day-to-day action.
· First and Broadway Dirt Patch Finally Becoming a Courthouse [Curbed LA]
· SOM Will Design the Civic Center's New Federal Courthouse [Curbed LA]
· New United States Courthouse – Los Angeles [SOM]
· Los Angeles U.S. Courthouse [Clark]
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