County Executive Suozzi, with the help of Daniel Rotondo of the Local 138, uses an excavator to take a "crack" at tearing down part of the Old Courthouse.

“More than a century ago, while running for Vice-President of the United States, then Governor Theodore Roosevelt, Nassau County’s most famous and beloved resident, laid a three-foot long granite cornerstone at the northeast corner of what would become Nassau County’s first courthouse and county building,” said County Executive Suozzi.  “Winston Churchill once said that we shape our buildings and then they shape us.  Due to many years of neglect, the old county courthouse on Franklin Avenue, once a national symbol of civic pride that appeared in Hollywood movies as the American courthouse, is in a terrible state of decay.  I am overjoyed to announce that we will restore civic pride to our Courthouse and to all of Nassau County.”

"This ground breaking is an indication that we are bringing Nassau County back to its original splendor both financially and historically." Judy Jacobs (D-Woodbury), Presiding Officer Nassau County Legislature.

The Courthouse project will renovate the building’s infrastructure, abate hazardous materials, and preserve and restore the building’s historic architecture for present and future generations.  In addition, the County is building a new legislative and administrative wing that will provide ready access for the County’s constituents and provide efficient working areas for the Legislature and Executive Branches of County government.

While construction work on the addition and the interior renovation is just beginning, this project has been under way for over 2 years dealing with conceptual programming, design, budget allocation, asbestos abatement, and some localized areas of exterior restoration.  The County anticipates the work will be substantially complete by June 2007.