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The '''M. C. Blanchard Judicial Building''' is the primary seat of the [[First Judicial Circuit Court of Florida]] in [[Escambia County]] and home to much of the county's governmental offices, including [[Escambia County Clerk of Court|Clerk of Court]]. It is located between [[Baylen Street]] (which it faces), [[Government Street]], [[Spring Street]] and [[Main Zaragoza Street]], with the address 190 [[Governmental Center]].

The building was built in [[1978]] and is known for its distinctive architectural style, designed by [[William Graves]].

==History==The [[Escambia Governmental Center Authority]] was established in [[1969]] to study and make recommendations regarding the master plan of [[Escambia County]] government's presence in [[downtown Pensacola]]. After contentious debates with certain members of the [[Escambia County Commission]], particularly [[Grady Albritton]], who wanted the government complex to remain on [[Palafox Street]], the Commission and the Governmental Center Authority agreed upon the site known as "'''Block 11'''" (bounded by [[Baylen Street|Baylen]], [[Government Street|Government]], [[Spring Street|Spring]] and [[Zaragoza Street]]s) in December [[1973]]. However, a year later, on [[December 23]], [[1974]], Albritton and two other commissioners ([[Zearl Lancaster]] and [[Kenneth Kelson]]) pushed through a surprise motion to purchase the adjacent "Block 10" (bounded by [[Palafox]], Zaragoza, Baylen and Government Streets) for an estimated $750,000. The commissioners said the block would be razed and considered for the site of the new judicial center; and if it were not used for that purpose, it could be converted to parking or a public park. Project architect [[William Graves]] pointed out that his current design would not fit on Block 10, and others complained that it would be redundant as either a park (across the street from [[Plaza Ferdinand]]) or a parking lot. [[Circuit Court]] Judge [[William Frye III]] issued an injunction on [[December 24]] blocking the purchase of Block 10 until a full review could be made. {{gov-stubsectstub}}