WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) helped secure a $117.4 million U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) award for the construction of a new San Antonio U.S. Courthouse. This achievement comes as a result of the combined efforts of Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), as well as the bipartisan San Antonio delegation, including Lamar Smith (TX-21), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Will Hurd (TX-23), and Lloyd Doggett (TX-35), who were united in their goal of creating this new judicial home for the Western District.

The planned 230,536 square foot federal courthouse will be located in historic downtown San Antonio at the corner of Santa Rosa Avenue and Nueva Street. The facility will house the U.S. District Courts for the Western District of Texas, U.S. Court of Appeals, U.S. Clerk of the Court, U.S. Magistrate Courts, U.S. Marshals, U.S. Attorneys, U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services, Federal Public Defender and GSA.

Under federal budgeting guidelines, funds must both be authorized and appropriated by separate committees in both the House and Senate before they can be disbursed. Congressman Cuellar secured these funds through the 2016 Omnibus Appropriations bill, which allocated $947 million for new courthouse construction projects across the country, with $117 million of that total allocated specifically for the construction of a new U.S. courthouse in San Antonio.

Congressman Cuellar worked to obtain these funds to address numerous problems at the current facility, the John H. Wood, Jr. U.S. Courthouse. Judges, jurors, prosecutors and visitors often pass defendants charged with violent crimes in corridors and conveyances around the building. The building also lacks a protected perimeter, tests positive for high levels of lead and iron contamination in its water, likely due to poor pipe construction, and is missing proper heating and air conditioning controls, not to mention asbestos and mold in and around the HVAC systems.

The construction of the new facility, slated to begin in Spring 2019, will not only address these issues, but also increase capacity to raise staffing levels and manage the litigation demands of one the nation’s busiest federal judicial districts.  The contract has been awarded to Brasfield & Gorrie, L.L.C., a nationally recognized construction firm with an established history of service to Texas communities.  The new state of the art courthouse will meet the security, accessibility and operational needs of the courts in service to the Western District Texas.

"The Wood Courthouse has kept the Western District going for nearly 50 years, but unfortunately it does not have the capacity to support it any longer," Congressman Cuellar said. "The project to build a new courthouse was deserving of emergency appropriations because of the building’s numerous problems: The building’s water quality, air quality, space, safety and security issues go beyond simple repairs. I, therefore, am pleased to announce funding for the construction of a new courthouse immediately, which will transform the area and directly impact the San Antonio community.”

“I would like to thank the General Services Administration for laying out specific options and concrete next steps for this courthouse. I also thank Senator Cornyn, along with the San Antonio delegation for their steadfast advocacy on this project. Finally, I would like to thank U.S. Western District of Texas Judge Xavier Rodriguez and Chief Judge Orlando Garcia, and recognize Judge Fred Biery, Judge David Guaderrama, and Judge Robert Pitman, whose work on this matter has been essential.”