Supreme Court Building Photographic Hat Trick

In this photo you can see all three places where the Alabama Supreme Court has been housed since the Capitol moved to Montgomery in 1846.


A) Barely visible through the trees...the Alabama Capitol Building, where you can see the old Supreme Court Chambers on tours. The Capitol building burned down in 1847 and was rebuilt on the same foundation in 1851.


B) During the Great Depression, a Scottish Rite Lodge building on Dexter Avenue fell into default and was seized by the state. The Supreme Court moved into the building where it would literally hold court for almost a half Century. The old building has been completely encased by the new RSA Judicial Office Building, which should open in 2012. The Supreme Court Chamber is being restored as a meeting room. You can see the old building through the windows of the new structure. The picture below was taken during construction. It clearly shows the old building in the new.
In March of 2007, before the RSA plan was announced, I produced a piece for APT about the  history of that old building, and you can watch that segment online here.

C) The current Judicial Building, where all of the Appeals Courts of Alabama reside. A majestic building for sure, but there were serious water leak problems almost from the start. The statute of limitations on filing suit against the designers and builders expired in the early 2000's, yet the management of the courts took no action.
As a result, the state has had to spend millions to fix the problem. Worse yet, taxpayers will have to do the same repair work over and over again, like re-roofing your home. Ouch. The building was designed by Bargainer, Davis, Sims Architects of Montgomery, and Gresham, Smith and Partners of Birmingham at a cost of almost $35 Million Dollars in the late 90's.