LANSING - The new home for Michigan's highest court is taking shape.

The six-story, 281,000 square-foot Michigan Hall of Justice will house the Michigan Supreme Court, the state Court of Appeals (Lansing office) and the State Court Administrative Office in our state's capital. These entities now occupy leased space in several downtown Lansing locations.

Ground was broken on the Hall of Justice in 1999 at the west end of the Capitol Mall at Ottawa and Butler. It will cost about $111 million, and completion is expected in 2002. The project will include a 460-space parking structure. The Christman Co. is acting as the general contractor.

The consolidation is expected to save $204 million in rent over 25 years, according to the Department of Management and Budget. However, the new building will cost $23 million more than originally promised because of the state's slumping economy. State officials had hoped to pay for the original $87.8 million cost of the building in cash when they approved the project three years ago, but now a bond issue will have to be used to help pay for interest on money that will have to be borrowed.

THE WEST VIEW OF the new Michigan Hall of Justice building.

TRADESMEN fabricate the dome of the Hall of Justice.