New billboards in Springfield target $2B courthouse project amid ongoing lawsuit

Opponents of Liberty Junction and the New Springfield Courthouse have released a new series of billboards. And the creators of the campaign are speaking out. 22 News reporter Aretha O'Dea joins us live in the studio with the latest on the messaging. That's right. If you've been in downtown Springfield or near Tower Square, you've probably seen some signs and billboards regarding the new $2 billion Springfield Courthouse project. Competing developers Jeb Belize and Dinesh Patel lost the bid for the courthouse project. They sued Liberty Junction and DCAM, the agency that chose the winners. Belize and Battelle launched a radio and TV campaign as well as digital billboards in September. Some of the new ones up now are quotes from local leaders like District Attorney Anthony Galluni, Cheryl Coakley-Rivera, and Mayor Dominic Sarno. One reads, quote, Western Mass deserves transparency. Another says Boston power brokers telling Springfield what to do. It's awareness in letting the public know exactly where the city officials and elected officials stand on the proposed courthouse. They're all well aware and they stand by their quotes. Belize and Patel have been trying to stop the state from moving forward with the contract. Belize says they aren't giving up, emphasizing there is still hope since a judge is allowing for the exchanging of evidence in their civil suit. Now Belize says the billboards will continue to stay up as long as it takes for the project to come to an official close. Working for you, Aretha O'Dea, 22 News.