GSA Holds Future Courthouse Hearing
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- Federal officials held a public meeting to discuss where the future Chattanooga federal courthouse will be.
The Joel W. Solomon Federal Building next to Miller Park was constructed in 1931.
The General Services Administration says that the needs of the federal government exceed the current capacity of the courthouse.
That is why Congress has authorized the GSA to acquire land within Chattanooga city limits to build a new courthouse.
It would be approxim
ately 186,000 square feet.
In their presentation, project leaders say that this project from start to finish would take 6-7 years to complete.
This means Chattanooga will likely not see a new courthouse until the end of the decade.
The three locations in mind is AT&T Field when the Lookouts move, the newly vacant portion of the downtown TVA campus, and a site on 8th Street.
Concerns were raised about the proposals, especially the 8th Street site which would replace the historic All Saints school.
One concern is the effect it would have on the nearby Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul.
The pastor at the Basilica, Fr. David
Carter, said, “One of the main uses of the 8th Street property that is under question, is as a parking lot, and if we were to lose it, it would adversely affect us.”
The CEO of the Creative Discovery Museum briefly spoke in opposition to the AT&T Field site, saying that placing a courthouse on Hawk Hill would not fit in with the tourist district that includes the museum and the nearby Tennessee Aquarium.
Most who spoke seemed to favor the newly vacant TVA site.
The executive director of Preserve Chattanooga, Todd Morgan, said, “TVA has a big presence downtown so it’s already a large footprint, and we’re hoping that instead of demolition, they can take those buildings and do something with active reuse. Maybe open up the streetscape a little bit, and really make that an active area of downtown.”
The GSA is still very early in this process.
If you were unable to make the meeting Wednesday evening, you can send a comment to them
at ashish.desai@gsa.gov.
