Big addition to courthouse project

TYLER – There’s a big addition to the site of the Smith County Courthouse construction project. A massive dome that will sit on top of the new Smith County Courthouse is being constructed onsite and is expected to be installed in late March or early April. Construction workers are pre-fabricating the dome in the old jury parking lot, which has been used as a laydown yard during the courthouse construction project.

The dome consists of several components, including a lower dome, 14-foot columns, an upper dome, and a 9-foot spire and will add nearly 60 feet of height to the building. The lower dome section weighs about 56,000 pounds, with the upper dome weighing an additional 16,000 pounds. Each will be lifted separately over a 2–3-day period and welded in their final resting place.

To safely complete this work, a 900-ton mobile crane — one of the largest cranes of its kind and configuration in the United States — will be utilized on site.

Also, a timeline was released Tuesday on construction progress. Phase 1 of the project was the Smith County Parking Garage, which was completed in November 2024. Phase 2 is the new courthouse construction, which is to be completed by the end of 2026. Phase 3 is the demolition of the current courthouse and adding a green space from the new courthouse to Broadway Avenue, will begin in January 2027, and is expected to be completed in the summer of 2027.