Federal building and courthouse renamed for ex-Sen. Richard Shelby in Friday ceremony

Richard Shelby, longest-serving U.S. senator from Alabama, was honored Friday afternoon inside the U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building in Tuscaloosa that now bears his name, praised by notables including his successor, Katie Britt, first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Alabama, and youngest Republican woman ever elected to the seat.

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"I have the best job of the day," said Britt, introducing her former boss. She worked with Shelby as press secretary, communications director and chief of staff, among other duties. Asked early in her public service career about visiting the hallowed halls, Britt began speaking about the institution. Sen. Chuck Grassley wondered if they were talking about two different things.

"He said 'I would like to know how you feel, to know that you have more power as Sen. Shelby's chief of staff, than you're going to have for YEARS,' " she said.

L. Scott Coogler, U.S. District judge for the Northern District of Alabama, oversaw proceedings in the grand upstairs gallery where artist Caleb O'Connor's 16 historical 14-by-9 foot murals are displayed. The day began with presentation of colors by the Hillcrest High School Junior ROTC. Doff Procter lead a specially assembled chamber group from the Alabama Choir School in a multi-voice arrangement of "The Star-Spangled Banner," after which the Rev. Charles Durham, retired pastor from First Presbyterian Church, Shelby's church, gave an invocation.

Echoing the words of John Calvin, theologian and legal scholar, Durham said " ... the highest calling is not to be a pastor, but a civil servant. We remember the one Jesus who came not to be served, but to serve, and give his life.

"And he inspired Richard Shelby to do the same," Durham said.

Coogler; Gov Kay Ivey; Attorney General Steve Marshall; Jason L. Shelton, regional administrator of the General Services Administration; William H. Pryor, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th circuit; and Britt spoke not just of Shelby's work securing funding, and overseeing construction of the building, but of his decades of public service, as a protector of Alabama, as someone whose work has bolstered economic, education, technology, law enforcement efforts and more.

"A federal courthouse serves as a message to the fact that 247 years later, the law still reigns supreme in the United States of America," Pryor said. "It serves as a monument to the vitality of the Constitution, which created our Supreme Court and the Bill of Rights, which secures our liberties, including our precious right to trial by jury.

"The federal courthouse serves as a place that everything builds on the promise of equal justice under the law, and the promise of due process. By his leadership, Sen. Shelby ensured that this sturdy hall of justice would serve as a beautiful symbol of the dignity and majesty of the rule of law."

They also spoke of the grandeur of the project itself, which according to some, would have taken a more contemporary, functional design from the General Services Administration, had not Shelby, with Coogler's assistance, pushed for a more classical look, in line with expectations of the region, meaning massive Doric and Ionic columns, broad steps and polished masonry. The specific model for the detailing in the $47.8 million building's portico was the Temple of Zeus at Nemea.

Construction of the courthouse began in December 2009, and O'Connor was hired to create the murals, depicting various historical moments and movements from regional history, a three-year project during which he and his family relocated to Tuscaloosa.

"Thank you all very, very much for this great honor," Shelby said, before stepping aside for his grandchildren, Anna and William Shelby, to unveil a new portrait, painted by O'Connor. Durham then introduced Procter and the ACS who closed the ceremony with "The Lord Bless and Keep You."

The bill to change the building's name was signed by President Biden in March 2022. The Tuscaloosa federal courthouse houses the U.S. District and Bankruptcy courts, including courtrooms and support spaces, the U.S. Probation Office, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Senator Katie Britt’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the General Services Administration, and the Social Security Administration.

Other facilities named for the former senator, and his educator wife Annette, include several technology and research constructions on the University of Alabama campuses, in Huntsville, Auburn, Mobile and Dauphin Island.

Born in Birmingham, Shelby earned undergraduate and law degrees from UA, worked as a Tuscaloosa city prosecutor as well as private attorney, a U.S. magistrate, a special assistant state attorney general, and state senator, before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1978 from the Tuscaloosa-based 7th Congressional District. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986, and served until retirement earlier this year, having chaired at varying times the Senate Appropriations Committee, Intelligence Committee, Banking Committee, and Rules Committee.

Reach Mark Hughes Cobb at mark.cobb@tuscaloosanews.com.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Federal courthouse building renamed for former Sen. Richard Shelby