How much will it cost to ‘breathe new life’ into former Centre Crest building? About $30 million
A $33 million budget for renovations to reuse the former Centre Crest building as offices for the Centre County government is slated to be approved by the board of commissioners next week.
During Tuesday’s Centre County Commissioners meeting, the board and county staff presented a proposed budget and timeline to reuse the former Centre Crest building as county offices. The project budget includes renovations to the former Centre Crest building, the Willowbank building and continuing the ongoing improvements at the Centre County Courthouse. The preliminary budget shows $29.2 million for the reuse of the former Centre Crest building and $2.8 million for projects at Willowbank and the courthouse (such as the retaining walls).
The project financing includes $30 million in a bond issuance as well as $3 million in county funds, John Franek Jr., deputy county administrator, said.
Franek said design work is expected to start this month, with the goal to have the project out to bid in January 2023, and construction completed by the second quarter of 2024. Once that is completed, departments will begin to move into the building.
This project will not lead to a county property tax increase, Commissioner Mark Higgins said. Commissioner Michael Pipe said they are allocating “replacement revenue” from American Rescue Act Plan funds toward the $3 million match.
Pipe said this is about preserving the legacy of Centre Crest, a former long-term care facility located on East Howard Street.
“The amount of people that have worked there, resided there, and the family members who have visited there, are certainly in the thousands. And I think we do have an obligation to honor those people, to invest in this building, breathe new life into it, and reuse it,” Pipe said.
Higgins said the board has a “solemn obligation to keep this significant county building in good repair.”
Bellefonte has seen a lot of investment and revitalization, Pipe said, and this project would be part of that. He said this project will bring about 100 workers back into Bellefonte. Those are people who would be getting lunch, having meetings and visiting coffee shops in downtown Bellefonte, and potentially even moving there, he said.
Currently many offices are in different locations across the county, so having them all under one roof — and eliminating some leasing costs — will be beneficial. Department offices expected to be housed in the Centre Crest building include human services and elections. Many offices are currently overcrowded.
Commissioner Steve Dershem said he put a lot of thought and consideration into this decision, and though the space might be bigger than what is needed currently, it will relieve a lot of growing pains in the future. There’s also an opportunity to partner with some of the community resources that the county routinely interacts with, and put them all under one roof.
The board unanimously approved adding a resolution to next week’s consent agenda, which states it is the board’s intent to issue general obligation bonds to finance the projects and reimburse certain expenditures. It also authorizes and directs the county’s financing team to move forward.
