It's still a few years away, but here's plan for new Lower Bucks government service center

A new Lower Bucks Government Services Center is coming to the county complex on New Falls Road and both county and Bristol Township officials couldn't be happier.

The $25 million, two-story building will allow residents to obtain a multitude of county services without having to drive to the county seat in Doylestown.

What services will be available at the new Lower Bucks annex?

Once open, the new building will house offices for 13 county departments with some 70 employees working there. The offices include: Adult Probation, the Board of Elections, Children & Youth Social Services Agency, Consumer Protection/Weights & Measures, the District Attorney's Office, Domestic Relations, Health Department, Juvenile Probation, Prothonotary, Register of Wills, Sheriff's Office, Veterans Afffairs and Workforce & Economic Development.

David McHenry of Upper Makefield, architect for the site with the firm Erdy McHenry, said he also is a Bucks residents and 10 years ago he and his family came to the existing building to get passports and thought it was conveniently located, it was not what he imagined a government building should be.

"How disappointed I was to know this building ... was the seat of government in Bucks County at least to those of us in Lower Bucks ... Civic buildings represents who we are, what we believe," he said. He said he and government officials are much more optimistic about what the new building "could and should be."

The building will be part of a campus including the Bucks County Free Library Levittown Branch, a Levittown Fire Co. 2 Station 13 firehouse and a district court building already on the site, surrounding a central "green commons" where the current building will be demolished after the new one is built.

Within the new building, an atrium area will serve for public gatherings for the "strong and vibrant community in Lower Bucks."

Construction work by Carroll Engineering and TN Ward Co. is expected to begin in early 2024 with the building ready for occupancy in late 2026.

Officials 'thrilled' at construction beginning

Bristol Township Council Chairman Craig Bowen said before the groundbreaking that it was "another great day" for the township.

He said he previously felt that Lower Bucks was left out of the improvements in other parts of the county. "You can see a difference," he said. "What's amazing — they did this without raising taxes."

The county is using a variety of funding sources to pay for the building, including funds from the federal American Rescue Plan that provided the county $121 million to be spent by December 2026.

County spokesman Jim O'Malley said that it is also applying for other grants.

More: Bucks County has $122M in American Rescue funds to spend. Why employees got $44M so far

Bucks Commissioner Chairman Bob Harvie said the project would also include a field of solar panels at the and a small concession stand type of building will be outfitted for possible lease to a coffee shop to serve county employees and the public.

He said the building is designed in steel and glass to harken back to the days when many people in Lower Bucks worked at the former U.S. Steel site in Falls, now the Keystone Opportunity Zone, and at other heavy industry manufacturers in the area.

Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo said when people approach him asking how to obtain county assistance with a problem, he won't have to tell them to go to Doylestown where the Bucks County Administration Building and Justice Center are located, as more services will be offered in Lower Bucks. The county also has an Upper Bucks Government Services Center in Quakertown.

"I'm thrilled to be part of it," said Commissioner Diane Ellis Marseglia of the plans for the new building.

Madison Schafer, who works in the current Lower Bucks annex for the Prothonotary's Office, where she handles passport applications, said, "I've lived in Levittown my entire life...It's exciting to give the rest of Lower Bucks something to look forward to."

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Lower Bucks County to welcome a new county government center in 2026