Ground was broken this morning at the site where a new home for the High Court of American Samoa will be built.
The site is where the Old Communications Building used to be.
According to Director of Public Works Faleosina Voigt, this is a flood zone just like the site of the new Fono building so the building needs to be constructed on piles.
The first phase of the project was the demolition of the Communications Building which was carried out on July.
The second phase is construction of the foundation which will be done by the Maintenance and Operations Division of Public Works.
The third phase is construction of the actual building which according to Governor Lolo Moliga will be done by a contractor to be selected.
It will be a two story building and will include three court rooms, three jury rooms, chambers for the chief justice and judges.The structure will be compliant with the American Disability Act to include an elevator and ramps, and will also have sprinklers and a fire alarm system.
A price estimate for the whole project is $5-$7 million.
Governor Lolo apologizes to Chief Justice Michael Kruse that its taken so long to build the new courthouse.
He said surplus funds from FY2017 and FY2018 were to be used as seed money but it wasn’t enough so those funds were used instead to build the new TAOA Center, the security walls around the Territorial Correctional Facility and seawalls.
According to the governor part of the funding for the new courthouse and Fono building will come from the $17.5 million in surplus funds for FY2019 and FY2020. Other financing is from the $35 million in federal COVID-19 funding for ASG.
An interesting feature of the building is that it will have two entrances, one facing the main road and the other facing the residential part of Fagatogo village.
Lolo said the one request he made to the Public Works Director regarding the design of the building is that it have two front entrances.
The governor lauded the fact that local funds raised from within the territory are being used to finance major infrastructure projects.
He echoed the words of Rev Iasepi Ulu of the Fagatogo CCCAS who blessed the site, that Moses left many projects unfinished and these were completed by his successors. In the same vein, the governor said that the court house, Fono building and other projects will be continued by the incoming administration of Lemanu and Talauega.
Photo: Governor’s Office
