Construction of $117.4M federal courthouse to begin early next year

SAN ANTONIO – State and local officials on Monday announced that construction of a new federal courthouse for the Western District of Texas will begin early next year.

U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez said the project, which he has partially championed for more than a decade, will provide some relief to the overburdened district.

"The Western District of Texas was recently highlighted in testimony before Congress, along with four other districts, as being burdened with an extraordinarily high and sustained workload," Rodriguez said.

The current John H. Wood Jr. U.S. Courthouse was built in 1968 as a theater to host part of the 1968 World's Fair. The building was later converted to a federal courthouse, for which Rodriguez said it's not designed.

The building has also experienced water problems, asbestos issues and insect infestations.

"Quite honestly, in our discussions about our most pressing need for this courthouse, again and again we came back to the fact that the current courthouse is not as safe as it should be for the judges, for the visitors, for the folks that are coming through there for court hearings," U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro said.

Castro said the new courthouse will be part of the revitalization of downtown.

Over the past 10 years, Texas lawmakers faced several setbacks in obtaining funding for the courthouse, but in 2016, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar announced that $135 million had been earmarked as part of a 2016 appropriations bill.

The new, 225,127 square-foot courthouse will be in the 200 block of West Nueva Street and is expected to cost approximately $117.4 million. From land to site design, $144 million was secured for the project.

Renowned architecture firms Lake Flato and Munoz and Company will collaborate on the design of the project.

Cuellar said construction is slated to start in February 2019 and is expected to be completed in spring 2022.