Some buildings take longer to construct than others, but few people expected it would take two decades to create a new federal courthouse in Salt Lake City.
The process to upgrade or replace the city's aging Frank E. Moss Courthouse on Main Street began in the early 1990s, well before tighter security requirements for federal buildings were put into place after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Not only did the old courthouse not meet new blast-proof and perimeter security standards set by Congress in 2001, it also did not allow for the separate movement of judges, prisoners and visitors within the building. In most cases, these groups were forced to share the same elevators and hallways on their way to the courtrooms. Occupancy of the building had also exceeded its design capacity. It soon became obvious that the courthouse needed to be replaced rather than upgraded.