CALGARY -- The Court of Appeal is scheduled to return to its original Calgary location in the coming years but in a state-of-the-art facility directly across the street from the Calgary Courts Centre.
The design process for the new building is slated to begin later this year and continue into 2022.
The Court of Appeal was displaced from the historic court building, located at 530 Seventh Avenue S.W., in 2003 due to environmental concerns primarily regarding asbestos. The building has remained vacant since.
The court moved to leased space within the TransCanada Tower at 450 First Street S.W. but all criminal matters had to be heard in the Calgary Courts Centre, several blocks away, due to security issues.
The current lease is set to expire in October 2024.
The provincial government has committed a total of $57.3 million to the project that will be distributed over the next three years.
Tentative plans for the new building will see it constructed adjacent to the historic building to the north and will incorporate the 107-year-old original structure. Remediation of the vacant building will take place prior to the opening of the new facility.
According to the province, the project, which is expected to take five years, will create approximately 570 construction-related jobs.
