After many delays, new federal courthouse opens

At the end of a ceremony that mixed personal remembrance of Rush Hudson Limbaugh Sr. and allusions to the difficulties of constructing the building named in his honor, family members and dignitaries cut the ribbon at Cape Girardeau's new federal courthouse.

The project is now officially complete, nearly 15 years after the first federal appropriation of $3.8 million for design and land acquisition. The Rush Hudson Limbaugh Sr. Federal Courthouse, built at a final cost of more than $62 million, was opened for business in June.

Monday's ceremony brought together family members — U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr., grandson of the building's namesake, gave the keynote speech — as well as federal, state and local officials who worked on the project.

"We had challenges, but the challenges were overcome," said Bradley Scott, regional administrator for the U.S. General Services Administration, which oversaw the construction.

The building is a fitting tribute to Limbaugh, said his son, retired U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Sr.

His expressed hope is that his father's devotion to the law will inspire the lawyers who practice there. Rush H. Limbaugh Sr. was recognized at the time of his death at age 104 in 1996 as the oldest practicing lawyer in the United States.

But being tireless at his desk in the law firm wasn't his father's only contribution to the legal profession or his community, Limbaugh Sr. noted in his remarks. He said he hired the first woman to practice law in Cape Girardeau, was a member of the first Missouri Commission on Human Rights and was recruited by the Eisenhower Administration to lecture in India on constitutional law.

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com Guests walk over for tours of the Rush Hudson Limbaugh Sr. Federal Courthouse in Cape Girardeau

"He lived it, he breathed it," Limbaugh Sr. said. "He loved it, and it was his virtual life."

As he spoke of his grandfather, Stephen Limbaugh Jr. recalled his work ethic, which kept him at his desk six days a week almost to the end of his life, and his example of respect for others and clients, regardless of their ability to pay.

"He taught the course in civility like he taught the course in work ethic — by his own example," Limbaugh Jr. said. "He was an old-time gentleman lawyer who was unfailingly courteous and gracious, yet those traits never kept him from being a zealous and forceful advocate for his clients."

Limbaugh will be the first federal judge who will have a primary assignment to Cape Girardeau. He noted during his speech that he is the first resident federal judge working out of a courthouse named by Congress after his grandfather.

Speakers at the ceremony included Jim Williams, top administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration, Mayor Jay Knudtson, U.S. Sen. Kit Bond, U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry and Chief Judge James Loken of the U.S. Eighth District Court of Appeals. U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill sent a letter that was read during the ceremony.

Others on hand included four members of the Missouri Supreme Court, including Chief Justice Laura Denvir Stith, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, radio host Rush Limbaugh III and numerous members of the Limbaugh family.

The GSA's Scott, the master of ceremonies, made light of the difficulties finishing the project. The first concrete measures to build the new courthouse took place in 1993, when then-U.S. representative Bill Emerson secured $3.8 million for design and land acquisition.

On Monday, standing in front of the three-courtroom, 173,392 square-foot building originally projected to cost $30 million, Scott felt it was time to make light of the delays. When the construction appropriation was approved in 2002, the cost had grown to $49.3 million.

The first designs called for an open atrium without air conditioning, among other items that raised objections.

The reaction from members of Congress, Scott recalled was "'We don't like that design. Start over.' And guess what? We did. At any rate, I don't want to go into the travails. But let me just say it is a great honor serving the community of Cape Girardeau and including the community of Cape Girardeau in the design, including them as we constructed the project, and answering the calls of Sen. Bond and Congresswoman Emerson. And answering the calls to their staff. And answering every call at all hours, morning noon and night until we delivered this courthouse."

Bond, Emerson and the entire audience joined in the laughter. But the delays in the building project — a late recognition that seismic safety required 170 concrete piers to steady the structure as well as problems late in the project that included a faulty roof and a damaged elevator — also required Bond and Emerson to seek additional funding to finish the building.

"This was a challenge to get it funded, and it was a challenge to get it through GSA," Bond said. "Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want, and everybody got a lot of experience. But it is a magnificent courthouse that does justice to the memory of Rush Limbaugh Sr."

The building incorporates many environmentally friendly features and conforms to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards. Environmental features include plug-in stations for electric cars, use of 10 percent recycled content and 20 percent locally manufactured materials.

The result was worth the wait, Emerson said after the ceremony. "It has been a long time but they did a good job. They finally did a good job."

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126

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Remembering Rush H. Limbaugh Sr.

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