Progress at New Family Court Building, but New Dispute on the Horizon?

The construction of the new Family Court Building at the corner of 15th and Arch Sts. is progressing, with a giant hole currently occupying the tract across from LOVE Park and next door to 1515 Arch St., home of the ZBA, along with numerous other city agencies. It’s actually a pretty impressive sight (and site) to behold.

From the north. Wow.

Now from the east

Top of the ramp leading down into the hole

From the south

Starting to pour some concrete down there

The building, designed by EwingCole, has had plenty of scandal in its planning years. It caused a new stir at the Art Commission meeting a couple of weeks ago when the architects requested a one-story addition to the building, bringing it up to 15 stories and about 265 feet in height. With an anticipated $60M in savings from the original $200M budget, the architects believe that an additional floor would represent good value and provide valuable additional space as the years pass.

Certainly a reasonable stance, but there’s a bit of a hiccup: They never told the community about the change, and the community has had no chance to respond to the design change. Oh, and it’s possible that the new height would violate zoning restrictions for the building. After hearing these protests, the Art Commission reversed their approval of the change and tabled until their next meeting, scheduled for Feb. 1.

We’ll just have to wait until then to hear about the next twist or turn for this troubled building.