Bucks County Government Unveils Plans For Modern Campus In Bristol Twp.

Bucks County government has taken the wraps off the plans to transform the present county campus in Bristol Township.

LevittownNow.com broke the news in 2022 that the plan was being worked on, but county officials came before Bristol Township Council Thursday evening to advise them of the proposal and show off renderings.

The site along New Falls Road in Bristol Township’s Levittown section is currently home to a county government annex used by various departments – ranging from sheriff’s deputies to the health department – near the Levittown Branch of the Bucks County Free Library and District Judge Terry Hughes’ courthouse.

The entire site is largely wooded and is home to Levittown Fire Company No. 2, the Bucks County Emergency Homeless Shelter, a county communication tower, a field office for the district attorney’s detectives, and a large district attorney’s office warehouse used to store equipment and seized vehicles. The site connects to county park property that runs from Bristol Township and Middletown Township into Falls Township.

County officials said the plan is to remove the existing and smaller-than-needed annex and replace it with a two story building. The square footage of the proposed building wasn’t immediately released.

James O’Malley, a spokesperson for the county, said the plans are preliminary and may change as they are finalized.

No cost estimates have been provided, but the cost is expected to top $10 million, based on statements made at Thursday evening’s meeting..

The new Lower Bucks County Government Services Center would be constructed in front on the aging warehouse used by the district attorney’s office.

The project would add parking for the new facility in the rear of the property and create a park-like quad in front the building. The quad could be used by the community, officials said.

Aside from the existing annex, the county has no plans to demolish any of the other buildings at the property.

Officials said the former bank fronting New Falls Road that presently houses the Bucks County Adult Probation and Parole Department would be put on the market and the law enforcement agency would move into the new center.

Bucks County COO Margie McKevitt said the county expects to submit preliminarily land development plans soon and, if all goes according to plan, could be seeking land development approval from Bristol Township Council in the coming months.

Bucks County Chief Clerk Gail Humphrey said the county plans to use American Rescue Plan Act funds to help pay for the project.

The existing Lower Bucks County Government Services Center building has been in place for 30 years.

The county’s current facility has been undersized for years and talks about a larger facility have popped up more than once over the past 20 years.

“This is definitely well-needed,” Bristol Township Council President Craig Bowen said in response to the county’s proposal.

Bucks County purchased the 135-acre site that is being used decades ago. It was previously used for the manufacturing of rocket engines and 20mm ammunition from Morton Thiokol. The county paid $1 for the site, but had to pay for demolition and conversion of some facilities and also to clean up contamination of numerous hazardous materials on the site and in its soil.

Some of the property was used to build the Bucks County Technical High School and the county later had to purchase 8.2 acres for $400,000 from a mortgage company to avoid development on the land, according to a copy of The Philadelphia Inquirer from 1994.

The Bristol Township Planning Commission told county officials in 1990 that they wished officials had a larger and more comprehensive plan for the tract. At the time, it was noted that the roughly 5,000-square-foot building that exists today would have to rotate departments in and out to accommodate staff and residents.

In 1962, one man was killed and five others hurt at the Morton Thiokol site when an unused pipe exploded at the site. The blast was reported by the Levittown Times to have rocked houses across the lower end of the county. The explosion badly damaged an unused section of an ordinance shed.

Over the past 15 years, the county has undertaken several large building projects, including construction of the Justice Center in Doylestown Township, converting the former courthouse into the Bucks County Administration Building, shrinking the number of leased offices across the county into buildings owned by the county, and selling off unused facilities.

Report a correction via email | Editorial standards and policies

---

---