Federal officials retained private architects Guy Mahurin, who was from Fort Wayne, and Benjamin Morris, a New Yorker.

Fortunately, the bids were lower than federal officials anticipated, which allowed impressive design features such as the entry plaza and marble floors to be incorporated into the project budget.

[2] In 2000, the building was named to honor E. Ross Adair, a Republican congressman from Indiana's Fourth District.

Adair, who was born in Fort Wayne in 1907 and died there in 1983, served in the U.S. Army during World War II and was ambassador to Ethiopia from 1971 to 1974.

Courthouse occupies a parcel of land bounded by Douglas Avenue and Harrison, Brackenridge, and Webster streets.

It features classically inspired symmetry, massing, and materials, but without the abundant ornamentation that was common on some earlier styles of federal architecture.

The imposing building portrayed the dignity and stability of the federal presence during a difficult time in American history.

[2] The building rises three stories above a basement and is clad in gray-buff limestone with a granite base and entrance steps.

The building is topped by a cornice that contains the gutter system and features carved lion heads at evenly spaced intervals.

[2] The interior contains several significant spaces that retain their historic finishes and features and continue to convey the grandeur of the building.

The entry vestibules have floors covered in contrasting marble that forms a central star design with a diamond-shaped border.