Connecticut’s congressional delegation Tuesday hailed the approval of $135 million for a new federal courthouse in downtown Hartford that would replace the aging and outdated court complex on Main Street. The $135 million approved late Monday in the federal budget and COVID-19 relief bill is just the first appropriation that will be needed for the project that is eventually expected to cost about $270 million. The federal courthouse in Hartford was ranked this year as No. 1 among all federal courthouses in the country that needed to be replaced. Talked about for several years, the project is still in its earliest stages. A site must be found for the new courthouse and no construction timetable has yet been established. According to a staff member in Sen. Chris Murphy’s office, a groundbreaking could still be a couple of years away. Construction of a new courthouse was needed to address significant ongoing security, space and building condition deficiencies at the existing location in Hartford and was the judiciary’s top priority, a spokesman for the courts said.
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