WASHINGTON, D.C. – North Carolina Senators Thom Tillis and Richard Burr sent a letter to U.S. General Services Administration (GSA)Administrator Emily Murphy urging the GSA to secure temporary, leasable space in Wilmington for employees displaced from the Alton Lennon Federal Building in Wilmington due to Hurricane Florence and to restore and reopen the Alton Lennon Federal Building as soon as possible.

To date, more than 44 federal employees have been displaced because of the building’s closure, including a federal magistrate judge who holds court in Wilmington. The federal court has a temporary lease agreement and access to space in the New Hanover County Courthouse until April 2019, and the GSA has indicated it will be unable to renovate and reopen the Alton Lennon Federal Building by the lease’s expiration. If this is accurate, the federal district court will be unable to hold court in Wilmington after April 1, 2019, unless it is possible to have a temporary presence in the Alton Lennon Federal Building or another space.

“As you are likely aware, the Alton Lennon Federal Building was severely damaged during Hurricane Florence and has been closed for the foreseeable future,” wrote the Senators. “These federal employees provide crucial services to the people of Wilmington and the surrounding counties.”

“We are specifically concerned about the closure of the federal courtroom in Wilmington,” the Senators continued. “Accordingly, we ask that you continue to work to ensure the court may administer justice in New Hanover County. We also ask that you work to expeditiously renovate and reopen the Alton Lennon Federal Building.”

Read the full letter HERE. 

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