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Federal Courthouse | 135 FT | 8 FLOORS | Complete

Quote:

Dirt’s moving at the site of future U.S. courthouse

By Steven Kreytak | Monday, September 14, 2009, 06:09 PM

Workers have begun to move dirt at the future site of Austin’s new federal courthouse downtown, according to Shala Geer-Smith, a spokeswoman for the General Services Administration, which is overseeing the project.

Construction of the more than $100 million courthouse is expected to last three years. At the ceremonial groundbreaking earlier this month, John Straub, a project manager with White Construction Company, said that it will take about 30 days of digging before foundation work can begin. The structure will be completed in about two years, he said.

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Quote:

A photo crasher at courthouse groundbreaking?

By Steven Kreytak | Thursday, September 17, 2009, 12:06 PM

The row of shovel-wielding dignitaries at the groundbreaking for Austin’s new federal courthouse this month included members of Congress, federal judges and others with a hand in planning and funding the $100 million-plus project.

At the end of the row was George Lobb.

It’s not clear how Lobb, a young lawyer who sometimes practices in federal court, got there. But there he was, wearing a gray suit, a hardhat he apparently brought himself and a wide grin for the cameras.

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Quote:

AUSTIN
Federal courthouse finally breaks ground
After 8 years of planning, stalled funding, construction to begin on ex-'Intel shell' site.

By Steven Kreytak
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Thursday, September 03, 2009

From a stage erected on a block of San Antonio Street downtown that will now be closed permanently to vehicles, a string of dignitaries paid tribute Wednesday to the ideals of justice, to Austin and to jump-starting the local economy at a groundbreaking ceremony for the city's new federal courthouse.

"Throughout history, the rule of law and the ability to provide justice under the law are the hallmarks of great civilizations," said U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio. "Austin is a world-class city. ... Austin will soon have a world-class federal courthouse."

The more than $100 million building was funded this year under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The eight-story building will house the federal district and magistrate courts that are currently in the U.S. Courthouse on West Eighth Street. Other federal support agencies that do not fit in that historical building, such as the probation department, also will move into the new building.

Construction is expected to begin this month and be completed in three years.

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Keeping it weird.

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/conte...thouse_gr.html

A photo crasher at courthouse groundbreaking?
By Steven Kreytak | Thursday, September 17, 2009, 12:06 PM

http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/shared-blo...0064-thumb.JPG

The row of shovel-wielding dignitaries at the groundbreaking for Austin’s new federal courthouse this month included members of Congress, federal judges and others with a hand in planning and funding the $100 million-plus project.

At the end of the row was George Lobb.

It’s not clear how Lobb, a young lawyer who sometimes practices in federal court, got there. But there he was, wearing a gray suit, a hardhat he apparently brought himself and a wide grin for the cameras.

“We had an interloper,” said U.S. Magistrate Judge Andy Austin, who said local federal judges were not amused. “It was almost like this Forrest Gump thing.”

“The night after the groundbreaking, I was watching the news and I saw a shot of the group. I was like, ‘What the hell was he doing in there?’” Austin said.

Reached by phone this week and asked how he ended up in the shot, Lobb went silent, then said he would call a reporter back later in the day. He never did, and failed to return a follow-up phone message.

According to the State Bar of Texas, Lobb went to law school at the University of Houston and was licensed to practice law in May 2008. Austin said he has been court-appointed on a handful of criminal cases in federal court. State court records show he has about a dozen clients with pending criminal cases, mostly misdemeanors.

The Sept. 2 groundbreaking was attended by perhaps a couple of hundred people, from Austin City Council members to the police chief to assistant U.S. attorneys. After a series of speeches under a big tent set up on a now-closed section of San Antonio Street next to Republic Square park, the dignitaries moved to the block of land to the west, the site of the future courthouse.

http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/shared-blo...0068-thumb.JPG

Lobb brought his own shovel to the event, which he had painted orange and white, and at one point asked Austin and other judges to sign it.

When Shala Geer-Smith, a spokeswoman for the General Services Administration who was helping organize the event, spotted Lobb with the shovel, she handed him one of the ceremonial shovels, which were painted gold, Austin said.

“She didn’t know who it was and didn’t want to risk offending him by asking,” Austin said.

When the group lined up for pictures, Lobb took his place to the far right.

“I was annoyed that he did it,” Austin said. “”It’s going to be the photograph that you kind of look back on. … The groundbreaking is kind of the singular event when you recognize all that work you have done getting up to that point.”

This week, Austin alerted the General Services Administration officials that Lobb may have taken a ceremonial shovel from the event. They called Federal Protective Service officials, who apparently have retrieved it, Austin said.

Come on. Let's keep Austin weird, stupid federal court people. Are they *really* that bugged by that? I think it's hilarious!!

He looks like Greg Proops.

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/...ay-721857.html

Quote:

Federal courthouse on schedule, officials say
New $123 million facility expected to open in fall 2012.

By Steven Kreytak
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Despite unexpectedly encountering some old building foundations underground on the city block bordered by Fourth, Fifth, San Antonio and Nueces streets, and despite heavier-than-usual rain at the start of the year, workers have completed the shell of the underground parking and basement level. They are now building the concrete skeleton of the first floor, which will house a large ceremonial courtroom and the U.S. district clerk's office.

Officials say about 75 people are working on the site, and in about eight months there will be about 250 employed there.

The courthouse is going up on the site where the unfinished Intel Corp. building was torn down in 2007. When it is completed, the eight-story courthouse will be 252,420 square feet, have eight courtrooms and chambers for 10 judges and house many of the associated federal workers who have been forced out of the current courthouse on West Eighth Street because of space concerns.

...

Photos from 4/18

Two pics from last Sunday from the hill at Butler Park.

http://i51.tinypic.com/2dt3z2a.jpg

http://i56.tinypic.com/bfjcs6.jpg

Wow, its taller than I thought it was going to be, it kinda makes an impact on the skyline, which is awesome.

Quote:

Originally Posted by photolitherland (Post 5253161)

Wow, its taller than I thought it was going to be, it kinda makes an impact on the skyline, which is awesome.

Wow. I didn't even see it the first time until I read your post and had to see the second photo again to find Courthouse.

^
Thanks for the sarcasm...

A great perspective of the federal courthouse is from the corner of 3rd and Guadalupe, looking across the AMOA/proposed county courthouse site, currently a parking lot.

From there you get great angularity and an open-sky background that makes the building's outline very distinct. Check it out next time you're nearby.

Quote:

Originally Posted by photolitherland (Post 5254004)

^
Thanks for the sarcasm...

No! I'm serious. I didn't notice it until I read your post. haha :haha:

Looks like copper cladding may happen.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TXAlex (Post 5453426)

Looks like copper cladding may happen.

I really hope so.

Ok, i get it now.

They were going for the Borg hive aesthetic.