Groundbreaking held for long-awaited Bernie McCabe Second District Court of Appeal
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Dec 30, 2022

State of Florida and local leaders broke ground on the Bernie McCabe Second District Court of Appeal on Dec. 14 in St. Petersburg.

The Florida Department of Management Services is in the design phase for a new Second District Court of Appeal at 525 Mirror Lake Drive in downtown St. Pete. Construction is expected to begin in fall 2023, and the facility is anticipated to be operational by spring 2025, according to a release.

Last year, then-Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls made the announcement that the facility was coming to downtown St. Pete. It will be named after the late Bernie McCabe, who served as an assistant state attorney from 1972 to 1992. He was then elected as the chief state attorney of the Sixth Judicial Circuit. McCabe died in 2021.

During the groundbreaking ceremony, Sprowls — along with many others — shared stories of McCabe’s impact on both their lives and the community.

The courthouse is being built near the Pinellas County Clerk of the Court and is close to city hall. Orlando-based DLR Group and St. Pete’s Wannemacher Jensen Architects are designing the project.

The decision to bring the courthouse to St. Pete was a tedious process. Six years ago, a study was conducted by Savills Studley Occupier Services and the National Center for State Courts. The study showed that Lakeland — where the DCA was established in 1956 — wasn’t the best place for the courthouse.

The study showed that, at the time, 61% of DCA employees live in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. In the study it stated building the courthouse in Tampa Bay was the best solution. In 2020, the legislature approved $21 million in funding to start planning a new courthouse in Pinellas. For years, a large debate waged on where to put the new courthouse. The arrival of the coronavirus pandemic led the governor to veto the project.

The Mirror Lake site had been home to the Sebring Building, which was built in 1968 and was already owned by the state.