For the first time in 74 years, Austin broke ground on a new federal courthouse.
The eight-story building will cost about $100 million to build, but a lot of Texas leaders are excited about it. The project is expected to be completed in the fall of 2012.
"Austin is a very green city we knew it had to be very green," GSA Public Building Service spokesperson Charlie Hart said.
As designed and planed, the building is a high-performance, low-energy green building paid for by federal stimulus dollars. Congressman Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, has been a huge proponent for the project.
"Finally we have a center of justice that will be erected here today without doing injustice to the cultural life of our city" Doggett said.
Officials said finding a source for funding the project caused a slight delay in getting it started, but they also attributed the slow down to several changes made to accommodate the growing needs of the Austin community.
"We're very cramped in the quarters where we are...we need at least one more United State judge in Austin but don't have any place to put that person" U.S. District Court Judge Lee Yeakel said.
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Courthouse
News 8's Catie Beck has more from the ground breaking ceremony.
 
New Courthouse
News 8's Catie Beck shares more on
what Austin should expect.
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Architects said the new federal courthouse will have a 21st century feel, with a very open design with plenty of windows.
The site was chosen for the new Austin Federal Courthouse last year.
"It's the glue that holds the republic together, and without that glue this republic would fall apart," Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, said.
The new courthouse is set to go up at the site of the Intel Building which was never completed and imploded in February 2007. Intel decided to stop construction of the building in 2001, because the dot-com bust made the project no longer feasible.
