New courthouse set to open in Florida in December

New courthouse set to open in St. Pete

FOX 13's Danielle Zulkosky explains how the new courthouse ended up in St. Pete.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla - The new courthouse for the Florida Second District Court of Appeals is set to open in December.

"We have actually been a court without a courthouse for quite a long time," said Chief Judge Matt Lucas, Second District Court of Appeals.

Originally, this appeals court was in Lakeland in Polk County and when the building was abandoned they started renting space in Tampa from Stetson University.

"By the 90s it had become much too small," Lucas said. "It had environmental air issues it was it became unusable, and so we had to cease operating out of there for quite a few years back."

It has been nearly a decade of renting.

By the numbers:

This building was no small feat. It cost taxpayers $59 million.

"In the long run, this saves money because we're not in a lease," Lucas said. "We are in a long-term, fixed place. This courthouse was built to last. It was built on budget and on time."

Big picture view:

There are some additional positives to this new location for St. Pete. It will bring new professionals to downtown.

"I think it'll be more beneficial for downtown St. Pete, especially bringing a lot of like, you know, a lot more business over here as well with the courthouse and, you know, its staff, whoever's got to be there," said Jason Letchworth, the director of operations at Southern Grounds. "So it'll definitely help downtown."

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"It'll bring more people in," said Jay Johnson, a St. Pete resident. "And it's an appeals court, so people that can afford two lawyers because they already lost once, you know what I mean?"

The courthouse itself will feature 15 judge's chambers, one large courtroom, administrative offices and space for the court marshals. 

It will also incorporate new technology to help improve efficiency.

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