SALT LAKE CITY – Officials will be moving over to the new federal courthouse in Salt Lake City by next week, and they said the new building is a much-needed upgrade.
Project Manager Amy Mills said they are gratified to have finished work on the 10-story building.
“It’s always exciting to complete a project that’s high quality, that’s on time, that’s on budget,” Mills said.
The $184 million building has a lot more room. It's 100,000 square feet larger than the old courthouse, adding 14 new courtrooms for district judges.
Susan Damour, regional administrator for General Services Administration, Rocky Mountain Region, said she is excited about the new building.
“We are so thrilled,” she said. “It is just so terrific to have a dream and to wait decades for the dream to happen and to know that the need is there.”
Security in the new building is also improved. Another highlight is the technology being used. Not only will it help judges and clerks, but it will save money on the electricity bill.
“The technology, the excitement of what goes on in a building like this, and as it evolves in the time of the construction,” Damour said.
The vertical bars you see on the outside of the building are sun screens that will control natural sunlight entering the building and better use energy.
“As you get closer to it, the texture of the building changes, and you can see that there is depth to the sun screens on the exterior,” Mills said.
Officials will be moving into the building next week. And as for the old federal courthouse, that will be used for other court cases.
Tours of the new federal building will be available for the public in June.
