Federal Spending Bill Funds $180 Million Iowa Courthouse

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Construction crews could break ground as early as spring 2009 on a new federal courthouse here after President Bush approved a multibillion dollar stop-gap spending measure that includes $182 million in funding for the long-proposed project.

The existing federal court building, which houses the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Northern District of Iowa, suffered severe damage when massive floods inundated the city and surrounding areas in June.

The courthouse basement was completely submerged by the floodwaters, which rose several feet above ground level on to the building’s first floor, according to reports.
In July, the Judicial Conference of the U.S. Courts Executive Committee, which makes courthouse construction recommendations to the congressional appropriations committee, assigned the Cedar Rapids courthouse project elevated priority on a list of proposed courthouse construction projects awaiting federal funding.

Federal lawmakers adopted a $634 billion continuing resolution, which includes the courthouse replacement funding, as a temporary omnibus spending solution — budget negotiations are at an impasse — in order to keep the government running in the absence of an agreement on appropriations legislation.

The U.S. General Services Administration will oversee the construction of the courthouse. In light of the June floods, the agency is searching for other potential downtown sites. However, there are few, if any, alternative sites of sufficient size that are undeveloped and located outside the 2008 flood plain, officials say.

The original structure and site plans for the new courthouse — the building was designed to remain above flood levels up to a 500-year flood event — have been modified to take account of the June flood levels, which exceeded that level by several feet, officials say.

The new courthouse will include five courtrooms, judge’s chambers and support space. Anchored by a seven-story atrium, the courthouse design incorporates extensive glazing elements and features an expansive transparent curtain wall. The facility could also house the offices of the U.S. Attorney and Marshals Service, probation and pretrial services and accommodate congressional offices.

The Cedar Rapids project has languished on the federal courthouse construction priority list for many years, officials say. In the late 1980s, the GSA adjudged conditions at the existing courthouse building, constructed in 1931, to be substandard with inadequate space and security to serve the needs of the court and related agencies.

Although the project recently secured $13 million for design and pre-construction work, other projects, such as the federal courthouse in San Diego, were elevated above Cedar Rapids on the list of proposed projects and received priority funding to proceed, officials say.