CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Construction is officially underway on a new federal courthouse in downtown Chattanooga after the U.S. General Services Administration held a groundbreaking Wednesday with federal, state and local leaders.
The $282 million building is rising on a downtown block where Vine Street meets Georgia Avenue. Plans call for about 191,000 square feet of space that will pull the federal district court, the federal bankruptcy court and the circuit library serving East Tennessee into a single downtown site instead of separate locations.
Inside, the design includes seven courtrooms and nine chambers for judges, along with secure parking and offices for the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Marshals Service. Brasfield & Gorrie is the construction manager, and HOK is leading design. The GSA expects the project to reach substantial completion in 2030.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga also has a stake in the project. University leaders said the building is expected to hold a classroom turned courtroom space where students could study near live court proceedings. The site sits roughly an eight-minute walk from the new UTC library, though the GSA has no renderings of the learning space yet because the project is still in design. University leaders see it as a hands-on tool for the many pre-law students enrolled across a range of majors on the campus.
The courthouse is among the first planned under a presidential executive order that favors classical styles for federal buildings, and the GSA describes the finished structure as a classically inspired civic landmark for the city.
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