A new site on Vine Street near the County Courthouse is being eyed for a new Federal Courthouse.
The Vine Street site is bounded by E. 5th Street to the north, Lindsay Street to the east, Vine Street to the south, and Georgia Avenue to the west.
Officials said, "The U.S. General Services Administration invites the public to provide feedback and comments on a draft Supplemental Environmental Assessment (SEA) and draft Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the acquisition of a site and construction of a new federal courthouse in Chattanooga.
Following completion of the Final Environmental Assessment (EA), on April 9, GSA announced two short listed sites, the Hawk Hill Stadium site and the TVA site. However, GSA has elected to consider an additional location as a site for the proposed Courthouse, which warrants a SEA."
The proposed new courthouse would encompass approximately 190,701 gross square feet; include seven courtrooms, nine chambers, and 40 secured parking spaces; and be located within the city limits of Chattanooga.
The draft SEA supplements the Final EA prepared in April by assessing and analyzing impacts of designing and constructing a courthouse at the new Vine Street site for consideration.
The public is encouraged to provide written comments on the findings presented in the draft supplemental EA and draft FONSI. Any substantive comments received by the deadline will be addressed in the final SEA.
• The draft SEA and draft FONSI are available online through GSA’s project website: https://www.gsa.gov/chattanoogacourthouse.
• A hardcopy of each is available for review at the Chattanooga Public Library Downtown Branch at 1001 Broad St.
Comments can be submitted via mail or email.
Mail: Comments submitted by mail must be postmarked by Dec. 18 and sent to the following mailing address:
Attention: Mr. Ashish Desai
GSA Region 4
Facilities Management Division
Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Building
77 Forsyth Street SW
Atlanta, Ga. 30303
Email: Send email comments by Dec. 18 to ashish.desai@gsa.gov and reference “Chattanooga Courthouse Supplemental EA” in the subject line.
Further information about the project can be viewed at: http://gsa.gov/chattanoogacourthouse.