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The Gerald W. Heaney Federal Building, United States Courthouse and Custom House in Duluth, Minnesota is a courthouse of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. Completed in 1930, it is part of the Duluth Civic Center Historic District, listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. In 2007, the United States Congress passed an act to rename the building for former District Court judge Gerald Heaney,〔(S.521 -- To designate the Federal building and United States courthouse and customhouse located at 515 West First Street in Duluth, Minnesota, as the 'Gerald W. Heaney Federal Building and United States Courthouse and Custom House' ).〕 ==Building history== Duluth was a small copper mining town until 1869, when it became the railhead for the first transcontinental railway. Its proximity to Lake Superior made it an excellent location for shipping grain. Located near large forested areas, Duluth's sawmills thrived by the end of the nineteenth century, and the city became the nation's fifth busiest seaport. In 1892, the city's first federal building—a post office, courthouse, and custom house—was constructed.〔(General Services Administration page on the Gerald W. Heaney Federal Building, United States Courthouse and Custom House ).〕 As the city continued to expand, officials decided to create a civic center and in 1907 invited prominent architect and planner Daniel H. Burnham to develop a plan that would include a new county courthouse, city hall, custom house, federal office building, and plaza. A pioneer in city planning, Burnham was responsible for the layout of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, as well as city plans for Chicago and San Francisco. His plans emphasized the relationship between buildings and their sites. Burnham's design for Duluth, which the city commissioners unanimously endorsed in 1908, incorporated components of the City Beautiful movement, which espoused the use of formal arrangements, axial streets, and monumental, classical public buildings in city planning.〔 The county courthouse and city hall were constructed first. In 1916, the federal government purchased a site within the civic center for the construction of the new federal building. The U.S. Post Office, Courthouse and Custom House was designed in 1928 by James A. Wetmore, acting supervising architect of the U.S. Treasury Department, after Congress approved a $1.2 million appropriation. Construction commenced the following year and was completed in 1930.〔 The building has undergone several renovations. In 1970, the post office vacated the building for a new location, and the first floor was insensitively altered. The building name was changed to the Federal Building, U.S. Courthouse and Custom House at that time. In 2005, as part of the First Impressions program, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) restored historic components of the building that were removed or compromised during earlier modifications.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gerald W. Heaney Federal Building, United States Courthouse and Custom House」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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