Construction on historic U.S. courthouse begins

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH — Construction at the Frank E. Moss Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah is officially underway.

A wall-breaking ceremony was held recently and attended by representatives from the General Services Administration (GSA), HOK Design, Preservation Utah, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Utah and Big-D Construction. 

Awarded the renovation project by GSA in the summer of 2021, the $116 million makeover will include a seismic retrofit, backfill and renovation of the building, honouring its rich history while updating critical building systems and accomplishing necessary upgrades to create a sustainable, modern office space, states a release. 

Once completed, 12 federal agency tenants will move back into the facility, most notably the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The building will also reduce energy usage by 50 per cent reduce water usage by 30 per cent, preserve 6.25 million KGCO2E of embodied Carbon, and LEED Gold Certification will also be pursued, adds the release. 

The renovation is slated to be complete by spring of 2024. 

“We are restoring and modernizing the two 1905 historic courtrooms, these are true jewels of the building, you don’t see that many across the country, and yet we have them here and are going to be functioning court spaces,” said Tim Gaidis with HOK Design in a statement.