The 30,000-square-foot, one-floor structure is on track to be finished late this year, says Project Architect Todd Grove of Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects, which has designed the building.
Exterior progress
After falling idle because of a state moratorium on construction during the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, work has resumed on Spring Garden Township’s new Administrative and Law Enforcement Building on Tri-Hill Road, just south of York.
The 30,000-square-foot, one-floor structure should be finished late this year, says Architect Todd Grove of Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects, which has designed the building.
The second phase of the project – which involves razing a former elementary school on the site that houses the police department and expanding a park on the grounds with a pavilion, basketball court, walking path, and open space – should be completed in mid-2021.
The Architects are working with RGS Associates, Civil Engineers who are developing the entire site, and YSM as the Landscape Architects, focused on the park.
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“Half the site is under construction, and the police building remains operational,” Grove explains. The police department has been in the former school since the 1960s.
“The new building and parking will be constructed first, so the police can move in,” Grove says. “Then we will tear down the old school and finish the park.”
Township administrative offices, now housed on Ogontz Street, will move in after the police are settled, providing a consolidated location for residents to conduct Township business.
Interior progress
One building, many needs
The new building is designed with two separate and unique functional areas. The main entrance leads to a public lobby, administrative offices for Township departments, and a meeting room.
“This has to be very good, organized lobby space, with access to public restrooms, access to a caucus room for the commissioners completely fitted out with the latest information technology and data capabilities for presentations,” Grove says.
Departments whose staffers interact with the public will have a walk-up window in the lobby.
“It is about flow and adjacencies that allow a functional plan with a good relationship among all departments,” Grove points out. “Making all those relationships is critical to a project like this.”
The exterior entrance to the police department, less prominent than the main public entrance, also will be at the front of the building with its own signage and a secure lobby.
The design for the police station had to meet standards for law enforcement certification. Near the rear of the building is a gated lot from which police can drive into the building’s holding area through secure garage doors.
“Everything is locked down,” Grove explains. “We worked very closely with the chief and the Township to make sure it was exactly how they wanted it and to meet certification guidelines.”
Exterior rendering
Efficiency through listening, planning
The design of the building’s exterior took into consideration its residential neighborhood location.
“We worked very hard to make sure the building’s scale, its roof shape, its massing, the exterior brick, windows, and doors complemented and fit into the neighborhood,” says Grove, noting that homes on the street are one or two stories tall. “That was a concern of the community, and there were continuous reviews during the design phase with the Township and community to make sure everyone saw it as it developed and that concerns were addressed.”
Residents also were consulted about the building’s exterior lights, which will be on all night, to ensure that they were comfortable with the level of illumination.
The entire project was designed within a framework of Township objectives, one of which was cost savings through consolidation of service locations.
“That will be a result of this,” Grove says. “Multiple buildings at multiple sites is very inefficient. Everything about it will be so much more efficient. Sometimes you get used to making do, utilizing existing buildings as best you can.”
That has been the case at the Ogontz Street building, where the Public Works Department shares cramped quarters with all other Township offices. With the new building, the other departments will have up-to-date offices on Tri-Hill Road, and Public Works will be able to expand into needed space at its present location.
Even the park design follows the Township’s long-range master plan and regional park planning.
The Tri-Hill Road site soon will serve residents’ administrative and police business needs and provide recreational opportunities with the state-of-the art municipal offices and expanded park facilities.
“I think it can be seen as a statement about the future of the Township,” Grove says of the project.
Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects took on the Architecture, Interior Design, & Overall Project Management for the new Bedford Elementary School, and the outcome is impactful.