$25 Million Lower Bucks County Government Center Project Sees Change Orders

The new Lower Bucks County Government Services Center is taking shape as a centralized hub for county services in the area.

Land clearing began earlier this year for the new 39,000-square-foot, two-story structure, which is being constructed on county-owned property near the busy Five Points intersection.

Crews were working last week to install a foundation and build what appeared to be stairwells.

The building replace the existing 8,600-square-foot annex, which officials deemed too small 30 years after it opened. Discussions of a replacement building span back nearly a decade.

The three-member Board of Bucks County Commissioners—two Democrats and one Republican—approved the project and held a ceremonial groundbreaking in 2023.

The total cost of the project are expected to hit roughly $25 million.

The project has already run into unforeseen circumstances and there have been at least $500,000 in change orders since construction began.

Commissioner Chairperson Bob Harvie, a Democrat, said the first major cost increase to site challenges stemming from the property’s industrial past.

The land was previously used for ammunition and rocket engine production by Morton Thiokol before the county acquired it decades ago.

“There was asbestos pipe found in part of the process. It was buried asbestos pipe as we’re doing excavation, so there was added cost to removing that,” Harvie explained.

A second change order addressed structural fixes necessary for the building’s exterior.

“The window openings had been adjustment to the new window openings. The steel structure that goes around the windows had to be altered as the construction was starting,” Harvie said. “That became obvious that the original plan for how to construct the steel frames for the windows in the building had to be altered.”

When completed, the facility will significantly streamline operations by consolidating 13 county departments currently spread across various locations, including some leased offices. Departments moving into the new center will include Adult Probation and Parole, the Board of Elections, the Children and Youth Social Services Agency, Consumer Protection/Weights and Measures, the District Attorney’s Office, Domestic Relations, the Health Department, Juvenile Probation, the Prothonotary, the Register of Wills, the Sheriff’s Office, Veterans’ Affairs, and Workforce and Economic Development.

The county also plans to construct a small solar farm adjacent to the new government services center.