« Ind. Decisions - Transfer list for week ending April 7, 2006 | Main | Ind. Law - "Secret payments to city lawyers" »
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Ind. Courts - More on Terre Haute federal courts
The Terre Haute Tribune-Star reports, in a story by Sue Loughlin:
Local officials hope they have another opportunity to keep federal courts and related offices in Terre Haute, based on a letter sent by the General Services Administration to Mayor Kevin Burke this week.“The federal agencies have requested that the new office location continue to be within the city limits of Terre Haute,” states a letter written by Paul Rodriguez, GSA realty specialist.
The courts are currently housed in the federal building at Seventh and Cherry streets, but that lease will expire Oct. 31, 2008.
GSA is trying to locate space in the Terre Haute central business district, but if it doesn’t, it will consider other properties within city limits, the letter said.
In March, GSA published a notice saying it wants to lease about 12,500 to 15,440 square feet of space to house the U.S. District Court, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Probation Office, U.S. Marshal Service and U.S. Attorney. * * *
Andrew Conner, executive director of Downtown Terre Haute Inc., has been in touch with GSA and has informed local developers and real estate agents about the opportunity.
“It’s not been a very open process so far. I’m glad GSA is opening it up a little,” he said.
GSA representatives placed a notice in the March 9 Tribune-Star seeking proposals, but the deadline to receive those proposals was March 17.
Conner said GSA didn’t contact him, the mayor, Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce or others who could help them find a suitable facility.
“They weren’t making a serious effort to find good space,” Conner said. “They may have been sincere, but they were not doing it the way they should if they wanted the best site submissions.”
GSA spokesman Neil Omansky said the agency has done a market survey and did receive some proposals in the central business district.
“As a public courtesy, we are still accepting proposals” and the deadline has been extended, Omansky said. * * *
GSA said in the March 9 notice it is considering both existing building space and new construction, and the anticipated lease term is for five years.
Indiana State University hopes to take possession of the federal building by 2008 to house the College of Business. The federal building is now owned by the U.S. Postal Service.
While there has been some discussion that the U.S. District Court might move to Indianapolis for budget reasons, the goal is to keep it in Terre Haute, a U.S. District court representative said last month.
“The court feels it’s important to do what we can to maintain a federal judicial presence in Terre Haute,” Laura Briggs, clerk of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, said in March.
However, the court faces some budget constraints. The administrative arm of the judiciary has set a cap on rents, based on current rates, she said.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 8, 2006 09:20 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts