Blast protection proposed for fed building

The underpass on Front Street is to be reinforced to make it blast-proof under a plan in President Obama's fiscal 2016 budget.

Blast protection would be added to the downtown federal government complex at 880 Front St. as part of a $60.8 million request in President Obama's fiscal 2016 budget.

Tom Hardy, who oversees regional real estate holdings of the General Services Administration, said the improvements will include reinforcing columns and beams that make up the part of the building that covers Front Street between E and F streets. The current clearance space of 14 feet 8 inches will not be substantially changed, he said.

"It's a very unique situation," he said Friday, as he led a tour of the building by GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini.

The exact details and cost are yet to determined, he said, but if Congress approves, the work is projected to be completed over the next five years.

Other security improvements would include bollards along Front Street to prevent vehicles from driving onto the plaza.

The 895,247-square-foot, two-building complex, completed in 1976, also would see 94,000 square feet of reconfigured space, now that various courtrooms and offices have moved into the new $368 million courthouse annex that opened across Union Street in 2012.

Courtrooms would continue to operate in the original five-story U.S. Courthouse fronting on Broadway.

Meanwhile, under a previously approved construction project, U.S. attorneys in the civil division are moving into the fourth floor of the six-story federal office building on E Street this summer, where judges previously worked. The government expects to save $2.7 million annually in rent at a commercial office building at 101 W. Broadway.

GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini looks over the space being demolished in the federal office building on E Street to make way for U.S. attorneys' use.

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Blast protection proposed for fed building