Dignitaries from Jacksonville and across Florida overflowed a tent during a dedication ceremony Friday for the United States Courthouse at Jacksonville. It is the first federal courthouse to be built since the destruction of the Alfred P. Murrah in Oklahoma City in 1995.
Construction began in July 1999 and was completed in December at a cost of $84.4 million. Congress had allocated $96.7 million for the Courthouse.
The 14-story building occupies 1.5 acres on the west side of Hemming Plaza. It contains 301,279 square feet of occupiable space.
HLM Design, with KBJ Architects, designed the courthouse. Skanska USA Construction Inc. built it.
Leading the dedication ceremony were judges Gerald B. Tjoflat and J.L. Edmondson, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Judicial Circuit; U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown; Patricia C. Fawsett, chief judge, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida; Mayor John Peyton; and Edwin Fielder Jr., regional administrator with the U.S. General Services Administration.