Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28) announced that today the General Services Administration (GSA) sent to Congress the plan for a new federal courthouse for the Western District of Texas, based in San Antonio. This plan must be approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works before it can move forward.

The plan sent to Congress includes $132.6 million to complete the design and construct the new courthouse, which will include eight courtrooms and accommodate 13 judges. The approximately 305,000-square-foot courthouse will be built on the site of the former City Police Headquarters at 214 West Nueva Street. The new courthouse will consolidate all of the district court and associated U.S. Marshals Service space into one facility. Design on a new courthouse began in 2011, but was delayed due to a lack of foreseeable construction funding. Congress approved construction funding in December, and thus design of the new courthouse will restart upon approval of the plan.

“I look forward to swift approval of this plan so construction can begin as soon as possible,” said Congressman Cuellar. “Constructing a new courthouse for the Western District of Texas in San Antonio has been a priority of mine and a project I’ve been working on for years. I, along with Sen. John Cornyn and the rest of the San Antonio congressional delegation working hand-in-hand, was able to secure funding for this important project through the omnibus government funding bill Congress passed in December. I want to thank the City of San Antonio and the Office of the Courts for their support in getting this project across the finish line as well. I expect that the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will take up the plan in mid-May and I encourage them to approve it at that time.”