Design work being completed on Richland’s new public safety complex

Construction should begin early next year on Richland County’s new public safety complex on Decker Boulevard, officials said.

The county has resolved the layout of the interior space of the now-gutted strip mall it purchased in 2011. About 75 percent of the space will be dedicated to eight magistrate’s courtrooms.

Councilman Jim Manning said specialists were brought in to make sure the courtrooms are laid out precisely for judges and lawyers who need to be able to see witnesses and hear testimony.

In its first redevelopment project, the county is moving its central traffic court from cramped and dated quarters on Huger Street. In addition, the sheriff’s department is relocating about 100 employees to a regional headquarters at the property, at 2500 Decker Blvd. Community meeting space also is being added.

The complex was supposed to be open by now.

But the project has taken longer than expected, and cost estimates have increased from $20 million to about $25 million. All told, the county has budgeted $31 million for the project, said Chad Fosnight, the county’s capital projects program manager.

The design is being finalized by The Boudreaux Group. Construction should begin in April or May of 2015, he said.

Councilman Greg Pearce said the county will upgrade the exterior of the building, too, “to make it look less like a shopping mall and more like a courthouse building.”

“We’re not going to put a pitched roof on it or anything, but it will have a facade that is much more professional than what we’re seeing presently,” Pearce said. “When you add the landscaping ... it should serve as a catalyst for that whole corridor.”

Fosnight said the county is discussing how to collect rainwater from the roof of the 110,000-square foot building and the parking lot to water the planted parking area.

The project is viewed as a way to bring more customers to the flagging, 2-mile stretch of Decker Boulevard, running past older suburbs just beyond Forest Acres — an area the county has dubbed its “international corridor” for its restaurants and small grocers.

Fosnight said on the days traffic court is held, as many as 300 people will go through the building.

This story was originally published July 1, 2014 at 9:51 PM with the headline "Design work being completed on Richland’s new public safety complex."