One of Tacoma’s most iconic buildings is set to get a $79 million makeover thanks to a spending bill signed by President Joe Biden at the end of March.
The 106-year-old Union Station U.S. courthouse at 1717 Pacific Ave. will undergo a major renovation that includes seismic bracing and electrical, roofing and HVAC improvements. The project will also include security upgrades.
The 137,000-square-foot building, which is assessed at $50.4 million, was transferred from the city of Tacoma to the federal government in August 2022. The building is now managed by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), which is the agency that operates and maintains federal buildings.
GSA is in the process of forming a project team and project plan, which will take about a year, spokesperson Christi Chidester Votisek told the Business Journal. The design phase will take another year to complete and renovations are expected to take about two to three years.
Contractor opportunities will be advertised on the SAM.gov website.
“Union Station has long been a cornerstone of the Tacoma community — first as a train station, and now as a United States Courthouse,” Sukhee Kang, GSA Northwest/Arctic regional administrator, said in a news release. “As steward of this historic landmark, GSA is committed to protecting and preserving the property for future generations. We look forward to working with our partners at the U.S. District Courts as we begin planning for these critical upgrades.”
The building was built in 1918, according to Pierce County records, and it served as a train station until the mid-1980s. In 1990, GSA entered into a 30-year lease agreement with the city of Tacoma to use the former train station as a U.S. courthouse. It has 10 courtrooms for judges of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
After the lease expired, GSA exercised an option to purchase the property from the city of Tacoma for $1 at the end of the lease term.
Biden signed a $1.2 trillion spending package on March 23. The $79 million earmarked for Tacoma Union Station was part of the funding bill.