Austin American Statesman: County Gets Old Federal Courthouse for Probate Court Expansion
By Taylor Goldstein
After a failed bond referendum and months of uncertainty, at least some of Travis County's court space woes may soon be behind it.
Officials announced Thursday morning that the federal government approved the county's application to take the old U.S. courthouse at 200 W. Eighth St. for its probate court and clerks offices.
"Thanks, Uncle Sam, for a wonderful Christmas present," County Judge Sarah Eckhardt said with a big grin Thursday as General Services Administration Regional Administrator Sylvia Hernandez handed her the for-show deed.
The 81-year-old building that has sat vacant for four years had been declared surplus by the federal government and will therefore be free of cost to the county.
Travis County officials have been searching for a way to free up space in the overcrowded, aging Heman Marion Sweatt Courthouse several blocks away ever since about a year ago voters rejected a $287-million bond that would have paid for a new civil courthouse.
"Although this gift from our federal partners does not solve all our overall court capacity issues long-term, it is a great reliever of our current overcrowding," Eckhardt said, before thanking many federal, state and local supporters.
County officials initially estimate it will cost $28 million to renovate the old building for modern use and to bring it up to code. They expect it will take until 2020 for it to open and that it will last the county until 2035.
The county will have to preserve the building's historic elements, as it is on the National Register of Historic Places. The building, constructed in 1936, has many Depression-era modern architectural details as seen in its central massing, rectangular form, vertical flow of window bays, decorative metal rails and geometric details, Hernandez said.
U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, said the transfer of the building to Travis County represents an investment in not just the preservation of the building but in the system of justice.
"What we have today really is an old home of justice, a very old home of justice through many decades, now once again acheiving its purpose as a place for justice for the future here in Travis County," Doggett said.
The county is still looking for sites for a new civil and family courthouse. The community advisory committee leading the search will bring its top three choices to the Commissioners Court likely in February.