FEDERAL COURTHOUSE
DOWNTOWN MAY SEE
BOOM FROM COURTHOUSE
ED DRONDOSKI
The five-story, $42 million U.S. courthouse on South U.S. 1 at Orange Avenue is expected to boost the sales of existing Fort Pierce businesses and attract
new businesses to the area, especially on the west side of U.S. 1. It was first requested by then-Mayor William Dannahower in 1987, ground was broken
in 2009, and it opened Dec. 5, 2011.
Federal courthouse already boosting
downtown business
BY SUSAN BURGESS
Crime leads to new courthouses as an area’s
8
population grows. New courthouses attract law
practices, financial firms, other legal services
and visitors on court business. It all boosts a
local economy.
A new $42 million federal courthouse that serves five counties
opened in Fort Pierce on Dec. 5, fulfilling a decades-long
dream of city officials and adding a new link to the chain of
federal courthouses serving South Florida from Key West
north to St. Lucie County.
Boosting the economy is exactly what a lot of people,
including Fort Pierce Mayor Bob Benton, hope the
123,400-square-foot federal courthouse will do. “It’s another
piece of the puzzle for revitalizing downtown Fort Pierce,”
Benton says.
Local business owners agree with that assessment, and
though they say the new facility hasn’t yet generated a noticeable
increase in business, they’re optimistic.
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LEGAL COMMUNITY
SPOTLIGHT