In June 2007 construction problems at the county-owned building at 150 N. Queen St. scared off the building's first-floor tenants.

So the county decided to use the  empty space for its own employees, adding renovations there to the list of work on the seven-story building that is the county's new administrative center.

This week, Lancaster County Commissioners are reviewing specific costs to renovate the first floor, which will become home for a district judge, the treasurer and several other county offices.

During a work session late this morning, commissioners were considering $2.41 million in extra construction costs for work on the building's first floor annex, the part that sits behind the stage at Binns Park.

Commissioners plan to act on the requests during their meeting  Wednesday.

Renovations at 150 N. Queen St. already have gutted most of the seven-story, 260,000-square-foot building at Queen and Chestnut streets from top to bottom, with floors, walls and ceilings redone and new utilities installed.

In 2004, the county paid $8.3 million to take the building by eminent domain. An ongong legal challenge by the building's owner may add to the building's final purchase price.

The total estimated cost of construction at the building now stands at roughly $30 million.

When the county began the renovation work at the bulding in January 2007, the first floor of the building's annex was occupied by Smith Barney and construction wasn't planned there.

But when the financial services firm left following complaints about construction-related problems, county officials decided to redo that space as well and move more of its employees to the building.

The changes for first-floor work, which were reviewed today, include $1.6 million to Perrotto Builders of Reading, $268,472 to Worth and Co. of Pipersville, and $544,297 to MBR Construction Services of Reading.

The pricetag covers the cost to gut and rebuild the first floor annex , which includes redoing the plumbing and electrical systems.

Once completed in late August, the first floor will become home to the treasurer's office and some county employees who now work at 225 W. King St., a building the county plans to sell.

Tom Weaver, the county's deputy court administrator, said he expects District Judge Bruce Roth to move out of his West King Street facility and into the new North Queen Street area by autumn 2009.

Magisterial district court offices usually include a courtroom, a waiting area and meeting room, plus a secured office area for the judge and staff.  

In addition to the new courtroom for Roth, Weaver said his office is also looking for a larger space for another city magisterial district court, that of District Judge Janice Jimenez.

Her current space at North Queen and East Walnut streets, Weaver said, is too small for the volume of cases she handles for the northeast section of the city.

(Staff writer Janet Kelley contributed to this report.)


Staff writer Chad Umble can be reached at cumble@LNPnews.com or 481-6031.