Some Bucks County residents say the county administration building and courthouse in the heart of Doylestown looks like a giant toilet from above. Really – with the rectangular administration building and round courthouse connecting, it is understandable why some people think it looks like a toilet. At the Bucks County Commissioners meeting Monday, officials outlined a plan to keep it that way.
Chairman of County Commissioners Rob Loughery laid out plans to consolidate county offices from Warminster and scattered around Doylestown into the iconic toilet-shaped building once the new $86.5 million Justice Center opens in about a year. The chairman affirmed the 1960’s-era county building would not be torn down, as some had speculated in past years.
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Many Bucks County employees currently work out of satellite buildings that are owned or rented. In the plan outlined by Loughery, hundreds would move into the courthouse and administration building, which would be repurposed and renovated. Courtrooms would be turned into department offices and the county could save cash by cutting out the current network of decentralized offices. A move to have more staff work from the field will also be under taken by the county.
Officials have said before and repeated Monday, they hope to sell off some county buildings they own now and end leases to space they rent for workers who do not fit in the Doylestown complex. Loughery said the county wants to “put [the properties] back on the tax rolls.”
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
Officials said in December the move to sell buildings and end leases is expected to save millions.
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With the opening of the new Justice Center, 63,000 square feet of space will become open and 50,000 square feet of offices will remain in the administration/courthouse complex.
The study on reuse of the current county complex included potential square footage needs for the next 20 years.
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No estimated cost for the project was presented at the commissioners meeting.
Services at the Lower Bucks county center in Bristol Township are expected to remain unaffected.
Work to overhaul the would take place in three phases; the first of which would start in 2016. The entire project would be complete by 2019.
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Click here to see a PowerPoint overview of the project
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