Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-40) spoke at today’s ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Los Angeles Federal Courthouse, a project she spent years leading the fight to build as a member of Congress. In the 1990s, when the congresswoman represented Downtown Los Angeles, she was asked by District Court Judges to shepherd the judges’ request for authorization and funding for a new Los Angeles federal courthouse through the federal approval process. She agreed, and kept up the pressure to build this new courthouse over the course of three presidential administrations; innumerable congressional committee chairs, agency administrators, and federal judicial conference leaders; and countless inspection visits, tours, and meetings with members of Congress and federal investigative agencies.
“I am happy and humbled to have helped lead the effort to build this magnificent courthouse,” said Congresswoman Roybal-Allard. “We knew building a new courthouse would be a multi-year project, but we had no idea of the many obstacles we would face and how many years the project would actually take. We tried every legislative vehicle and parliamentary maneuver to overcome congressional opposition from both sides of the aisle, and we were often told to simply find alternative solutions to a new courthouse. The fact is alternatives were reviewed and studied, and the only practical solution to the serious challenges of safety, seismic, fire, and security hazards at the existing courthouse was to build a new one equipped to handle the modern day needs of our busy, growing court with its burgeoning caseload. So we fought on until we prevailed and finally received the go-ahead to start construction.
“To paraphrase former First Lady Hillary Clinton, I can honestly say it took a village to build our new federal courthouse. Today, we celebrate the united, steadfast commitment and determination of our “village” of courthouse advocates who made this great day a reality. I hope the story of our success in the face of years of overwhelming opposition will inspire those who visit this courthouse to persevere in their pursuit of fairness and justice.”
In addition to speaking at today’s ceremony, Congresswoman Roybal-Allard took a tour of the new courthouse and presented Certificates of Congressional Recognition to the General Services Administration (accepted by Public Buildings Service Regional Commissioner Dan Brown) and the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (accepted by Chief Judge Virginia Phillips). The courthouse will be a home to both the Central District Court and the General Services Administration, as well as U.S. Marshals, U.S. Attorneys, and Federal Public Defenders.
The new courthouse is approximately 600,000 square feet in size, and contains 24 courtrooms and 32 judicial chambers. It was designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, and is targeted to receive a LEED Platinum rating. Its estimated cost was $399,635,000.
