NATCHEZ &8212; You can&8217;t really tell it from the outside, but work has started in earnest on the second phase of renovating Memorial Hall into a federal courthouse.

In September, the U.S. General Services Administration approved the $5.7 million bid of Mobile, Ala.-based Witherington Construction for the project. After a notice to proceed with construction was given to Witherington in mid-October, Witherington&8217;s crews had 480 calendar days to complete the project. Unless that timeline changes, the project will be finished by early February 2007.

The first step in construction is actually demolition, which crews are now working on, said Project Superintendent Dan Scott.

&8220;We just started demolition on the third floor,&8221; including balconies and brick walls, Scott said. Some of that work is being done to make way for an elevator pit. After that, crews will work to erect a steel staircase at the rear of the Pearl Street building, Scott said.

The city started its part of the renovation of Memorial Hall as a federal courthouse in November 2003 and ended in summer 2004. That work included gutting the unusable parts of the building&8217;s interior and removing old wiring and plumbing.

It also included installing a new roof and utility connections, restoring stucco and brick and structurally shoring up the building. The GSA is in charge of the second phase of construction, which will include work on the inside of the building, including walls, plumbing, air conditioning, electrical, duct work, security and elevators. Once the project is completed, the GSA will maintain the building.

High-tech features of the new courthouse will include video displays to allow jurors and all other participants to review documents, DVDs, videos and graphics at the same time. Before, documents and other exhibits had to be passed from juror to juror, taking up valuable court time.

The facility will also provide up-to-date accommodations for jurors and witnesses, holding cells and interview rooms for defendants, as well as offices for U.S. Marshals. It will also provide for more secure flow of inmates, allowing U.S. Marshals us to take them from a holding cell to the courtroom without ever entering a public hallway.

Local officials have lobbied to lure a federal courthouse to Natchez since 1999, when they successfully persuaded Congress to pass a bill allowing Judge David Bramlette to request federal funding.