Then…

People have called Tucson home since before the recorded history of Arizona.

The base of “A” mountain was once the home of the peaceful Tohono O’Odham Indians. Then the fertile lands along the Santa Cruz River drew settlers from Mexico. In 1775 the Spanish built an adobe pueblo and stationed a garrison there to protect the settlers from the Apaches.

In 1853, the Gadsden Purchase made Tucson a part of the United States. The railroad found its way here in 1886, the town began to grow, and it has been growing ever since, a vibrant desert city nestled beneath some of the most beautiful mountains in North America.

The 44 Broadway building was solidly built in 1979 as a Federal District Court Annex to meet the increasing legal needs of a rapidly expanding state. Over the next twenty years, the District Court buildings were the home of many trials, including several that made national headlines.

In 1983, a class action suit was brought against Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS) on behalf of investors. The suit proved that WPPSS was guilty of fraud and negligence, and recovered $687 million for the investors.

In 1985, a nine-month Sanctuary case — heavily laden with Cold War politics — tried eleven people for helping to harbor illegal immigrants. Despite the fact that these immigrants were political refugees in a church, all eleven defendants were convicted and served probation sentences up to five years.

The famous trial of Charles H Keating Jr. also took place here, in 1992. Keating, the anti-pornography activist and real estate deal-maker who had waged a war with federal banking regulators amid the demise of Lincoln Savings & Loan, became the human face on the S & L crisis that rocked Arizona and the entire country 15 years ago. He was convicted of fraud and sentenced to more than 12 years in prison. His convictions were later reversed on appeal, and he now lives in Phoenix.

Many who passed through the halls of this building did time, but as time marched on its stately courtrooms would fall silent. The new Tucson Federal Court building (Evo A. DeConcini United States Courthouse) was completed in 1998 and the Marshal Federal Courthouse Annex was no longer needed.

The tall, solid building, with its dramatic 15-foot ceilings that hung high above the heads of life-tenured federal judges, acclaimed attorneys, fallen financiers and common criminals alike, is being converted and refurbished into distinctive residential loft condominiums. Only 30 new owners will soon call it home.