Georgia judicial complex under construction on Oct. 29. (Photo: John Disney/ALM)

The topping-out ceremony for the state's new justice center—reset from Tuesday to Thursday this week—has been canceled again, according to representatives of the Georgia Supreme Court and the Georgia Building Authority.

The event was first delayed because judges and staff—plus current and former attorneys general and present, past and possibly future governors—were attending the memorial service Tuesday for retired Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice P. Harris Hines in the Great Hall of Marietta First Presbyterian Church.

Gov. Nathan Deal ordered flags to fly at half-staff Tuesday over all state buildings and grounds in honor of Hines, who died Nov. 4 in a car accident. The governor eulogized Hines at the funeral, as did Chief Justice Harold Melton. They both wept.

So did the skies over Georgia this week. Rain was the reason for the latest cancellation, according to Morgan Smith-Williams, public relations coordinator for the State Properties Commission and Building Authority.

But the truth was, no one was much in the mood to celebrate while grieving the chief justice who helped plan the building. The judges and justices had already decided to forgo their building event speech-making after Hines' death.

The new home for the Georgia Supreme Court and Court of Appeals has reached the halfway point in construction, and the steel frame is almost done, Smith-Williams said. That last piece of steel was to go up during the topping-out ceremony. The event was going to be a chance to celebrate for the contractor, Gilbane, and the architectural firm, Stevens & Wilkinson, as well as the courts. They had planned to attach the traditional topping-out evergreen tree to the final beam, along with Georgia and U.S. flags. Also expected were words for the construction crew from Gilbane's project manager, Michael Spivey, and lead architect, Bill Clark of Stevens & Wilkinson.

But Tuesday evening after the Hines funeral and with more rain in the forecast, the plan was scrapped.

“Construction must go on,” Smith-Williams said. But celebrating will just have to wait.

The building is the brick-and-mortar part of Deal's vision for the state's justice system—the first home for the intermediate and high appellate courts, which until now have been jammed into state office buildings with the attorney general and other departments.

Initial plans had been to open the building in August 2019. The ribbon-cutting ceremony has been pushed to December, with hopes of moving judges and their staffs in during the holiday season and opening to the public at the start of 2020, Smith-Williams said.

Thus far, the state has appropriated $122 million for the building, according to Building Authority Executive Director Steve Stancil. First came a $7.5 million outlay in 2015 for design. In 2016, the state set aside $6.5 million to demolish the abandoned Georgia Archives building that was on the site. The building authority sold $105 million worth of bonds in 2017 for the bulk of the financing. An additional $3.5 million came from a supplemental budget appropriation last year to finish the cleanup, which included removal of toxic chemicals from a dry cleaner and gas station once on the land. The plan calls for 224,000 square feet of space on a 5-acre site facing the gold dome of the Capitol.

Legislative leaders have already announced plans to name the building after the governor: the Nathan Deal Judicial Center.

As chief justice, Hines helped design and looked forward to the new building. In an interview last year, he said it will be “aesthetically striking” and “a signature building for our state.” He noted the court's current quarters are “from the Eisenhower era.”

“It's going to be a building for which the people of Georgia can be exceedingly proud,” Hines said. “And Governor Deal can be proud.”

Hines meant the statement as a tribute to the governor. But this week, the governor was paying tribute to Hines. To Helen Hines, the wife Hines called “springtime at the Masters,” Deal said, “Helen, all of Georgia mourns with you.”