Nearly a century after Chattanooga’s existing federal courthouse was erected on Georgia Avenue during the Great Depression, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) is preparing to build a new and larger courthouse complex at one of three other sites in downtown Chattanooga.
GSA is seeking public comments this month about what would be the best location for a new federal courthouse to replace the aging Joel Solomon Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, which no longer meets today’s security and accessibility standards for federal buildings. Congress has authorized $218.4 million to build the new facility, which could combine federal offices and courtrooms now spread across three downtown Chattanooga buildings.
A hearing on the three sites that GSA has selected for the new courthouse is scheduled from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on June 14 at the Mac Avenue Event Space, 1304 McCallie Ave.
As part of its public scoping for the site studies, GSA is also accepting written comments on each of the proposed sites until July 1.
In January, federal officials announced that they had short listed three potential sites in downtown Chattanooga to build the proposed new 186,000-square-foot courthouse building. The sites being considered for the new courthouse are: