Theodore Levin U.S. Courthouse

231 West Lafayette – Federal Building/now Theodore Levin U. S. District Courthouse – Steel-frame ten-story limestone-clad federal courthouse and office building (1932-34). Branson V. Gamber of Robert O. Derrick, Inc., architects. Corrado G. Parducci, sculptor. The Levin District Courthouse takes up the entire city block bounded by West Fort Street, Washington Boulevard, West Lafayette Avenue, and Shelby Street. An Art Deco design that contains stylized references to Neoclassicism, the building stands on the site occupied by the previous Federal Building built in the 1890s. Built on a black granite base, the rectangular building has an open center court above the second floor. Fluted pilasters mark the triple recessed entrances. Above the entrance, relief sculptures of eagles and emblems portray the building’s governmental functions. Highly stylized large fluted piers also rise through the central portion of the third to sixth floor façade to support a broad entablature with round sculptural plaques alternating with bands of fluting. The upper three stories below the flat roof are set back slightly from the lower part of the building. The interior is finished in high quality materials such as travertine marble and polished granite and displays plaster detailing that includes fine stencil work. Of particular interest is the U. S. District Courtroom, Room 733. It contains the polished walls and other marble features and the mahogany judge’s dias and other wood trim and furnishings that came from the former courtroom of Chief District Judge Arthur J. Tuttle in the old federal building. In 1931 when that building was to be demolished for this new structure, Judge Tuttle had his courtroom finish dismantled and reinstalled in his new courtroom.