Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Officials host groundbreaking for new municipal building
Township officials gathered Friday at the site selected for the new municipal building for a groundbreaking ceremony. Valley Township supervisors, past and present, gathered along with Valley police and township employees to celebrate the construction project that is expected to take up to 11 months to build. The new building at 1145 West Lincoln Highway in Valley Township will house township administrative offices, codes office and the Valley Police Department.
“I hope you’re happy with your building. This is your building. You guys are good, loyal employees,” said Supervisor Kathy O’Doherty, who is overseeing the project. “We’re trying to put all the thought we can into it to make sure that it will make it easier to do your jobs, it will make
it more efficient and the township will run more efficiently and you’ll be happy in your new space.”
Township officials secured a $7.5 million bond for the project, which includes paying off costs for the current maintenance garage. Any remaining funds can go toward capital projects, such as a new police vehicle or municipal vehicle.
The new building will be 15,000 square feet compared to the current building at 890 West Lincoln Highway, which is about 2,400 square feet. The offices will be on the first floor with storage on the second floor. Township officials noted that if necessary they can expand offices to the second floor, such as codes, if the additional space is needed. The building will be ADA-compliant.
“The building design will
meet the current and future needs of the township administration and police department,” O’Doherty said.
Martin Kimmel and Andrew Dillion, of Kimmel Bogrette Architecture, were selected by a committee and approved by the supervisors for the project. Adam Brower, of E.B. Walsh, Inc. is the design engineer. Supervisors anticipate that the new building will be available in fall 2018 if the construction is able to follow the proposed timeline. O’Doherty thanked the planning commission members and the architect selection committee members for their assistance in the process.
Valley Supervisors’ Chairwoman Patrice Proctor said that supervisors and township officials first thought about the project in 2008, but it was delayed. She thanked O’Doherty and past Supervisor Arlin Yoder for continuing the efforts.
“The township is constantly growing, and the building that we are in is getting worse,” Proctor said. “So it is the time now to do this, for the residents of the township and for the employees.”
State Rep. Harry Lewis Jr., R-74 of Caln, congratulated the township officials for their efforts to propose a plan and follow through on it.
“You started something … once this building is done, this place is going to grow so rapidly you’re going to have a lot of major projects in the future,” Lewis said.
He congratulated them for the township receiving an AA rating and for securing funds for the project without needing state funds.
“You guys did it on your own,” Lewis said. Visit Daily Local News staff writer Ginger Rae Dunbar’s blog about journalism and volunteering as a firefighter at FirefighterGinger.blogspot. com.