Bond announces approval of funding for new federal courthouse

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved $66 million to build a new federal courthouse in Jefferson City at the site of the old Missouri State Penitentiary, Sen. Kit Bond announced.

The funds were allocated last week by the committee, and now must be approved by Congress before the spending bill can be signed into law.

"Now it's clear on a national level that Jefferson City and Missouri need a new federal courthouse," Bond told reporters Saturday at a news conference announcing the funding.

Bond said construction tentatively is slated to begin in 2008 and be completed by 2011. Federal officials announced plans for the project early last year.

"Long after we are gone, cases will be decided in the new courthouse that will have an impact on all of our citizens," Bond said.

He said the Bush administration supports the funding, which will be used for site work, foundation and construction of the new courthouse. Plans include an increased focus on security, he said.

The federal courthouse, with a total price tag of $71 million, fits into large-scale plans for the former penitentiary site, said Charlie Brzuchalski, senior project manager with the Office of Administration's Division of Design and Construction.

Ten of the original buildings at the site will remain standing during renovations, with the first two buildings -- the Lewis and Clark Department of Natural Resources building and the Missouri State Public Health Lab -- already complete.

"This will bring a lot of people to the community," said Randy Allen, president of Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce.

The current federal courthouse is housed in the post office building across the street from the Statehouse.

The Missouri State Penitentiary was opened in 1836 on the bluffs of the Missouri River, a few blocks east of the state Capitol. Inmates were moved in September 2004 to a new prison on the eastern edge of Jefferson City.

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Information from: Daily Capital News, http://www.newstribune.com