New courthouse comes into view

Cape Girardeau's new federal courthouse will be a four-story, window-filled, brick building that federal officials say will blend in with the city's historic downtown architecture.

The federal General Services Administration, the agency in charge of building and maintaining federal buildings, released an artist's rendering of the final design late Friday afternoon.

The $49.3 million courthouse will be built at 555 Independence St., just west of the red brick city hall, on ground that once was a city dump.

The site is near the Cape Girardeau riverfront and many of the city's most historic buildings.

"The location of the courthouse in Cape Girardeau demands that the structure be an integrated part of historic downtown, not a distraction from it," said U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson who objected to an earlier design that led to the firing in 2001 of the Chicago architects who were first hired.

That design featured an atrium and skylight that would have been left open in the summer. The atrium wouldn't have been air-conditioned. Emerson shot down that idea, saying she wouldn't vote to spend federal money on a courthouse in Southeast Missouri that didn't have air conditioning.

The courthouse, as now designed, will be completely air-conditioned.

The GSA in March hired a design-build contractor, PCL Construction Services of Denver, to develop final design plans for the new courthouse. The move eliminated the need for separate architectural and construction contracts and federal officials said it would help get the project under construction sooner.

The Denver firm won a design competition among three finalists.

John Mehner, Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce president, served on a GSA committee that had input into the final design. Mehner said he and U.S. Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Sr., a Cape Girardeau native, pushed for a design that would mesh with Cape Girardeau's architectural landscape yet also stand out as a new landmark in the city.

But Mehner said architects, not the committee, came up with the building designs.

"In my opinion, they did a good job," he said.

Mehner said the final design is a good fit and features a lot of windows to let in natural light, even into the courtrooms.

Construction is scheduled to start this fall with the courthouse to be completed by January 2006, federal officials said. The front part of the courthouse will be four stories tall. The rear part of the building will be two stories high.

The new, 154,000-square-foot courthouse will have three courtrooms and offices for the 97 employees of the federal court and its related agencies, such as the U.S. attorney and U.S. Marshal's Service. Current plans have one courtroom on the third floor and two courtrooms on the top floor.

The front of the courthouse will face east toward city hall. The main entrance will be on northeast corner of the building and feature a four-story atrium, topped by a domed roof. It will be accessible by a driveway off Independence.

An entrance off Frederick Street will lead to parking for the public and courthouse employees. The lot will have about 130 parking spaces.

The new courthouse will replace the existing Federal Building at 339 Broadway. The 35-year-old building may be used for nonjudicial federal offices. In that case, Emerson's local office probably would remain in the Federal Building, officials said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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