Cooper: We’re pushing forward on construction projects

Both of the flagship public construction projects on Nashville’s drawing board have no firm starting date, but two of the region’s most powerful politicians have made it a priority to change that.

Although it’s on the top of the Judicial Conference's list of priory projects, Nashville’s federal courthouse has been on hold for years, largely thanks to earmarks that have shot other projects to the top. This winter, after being included in early drafts of the Obama administration's stimulus bill, the Nashville project was left out of the final legislation.

U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper recently formed the Congressional Courthouse Caucus to lobby for an end to earmarked spending on such projects.

“We're pushing forward,” Cooper told The City Paper. “We've formed the caucus to return some sanity to the building process because on merit, we deserve a new courthouse. And that's not according to me; it's according to the Judicial Conference.”

Cooper added that it is still too soon to tell about a foreseeable timeframe for the project.

On the Metro side of government, Mayor Karl Dean’s administration is finalizing a financing plan for the Music City Center that will have to be approved by Metro Council.

“It's not general fund money that's going to pay for this, which is another attraction,” Dean said. “We'll be discussing in another week or two some financial figures but clearly, we think we can pay for it without going into the general fund or issuing general obligation bonds.”