Hellam has a new township building, and the township staff members are ready to show it off. They will hold an open house of the new building, located at 44 Walnut Springs Road, on Thursday, Sept. 2, beginning at 5 p.m.
"We'll have light refreshments, and staff will be here giving tours of the new facility," said Corina Mann, township manager. "Board (of Supervisors) members will be here as well."
The new facility is located directly across the street from the old building, and it offers much more space to house township administration, the police department and the ambulance department, Mann noted. "Our old building was 8,000 square feet," she stated. "This one is 17,000 square feet."
The larger layout will allow the township staff to operate more efficiently, she added. "We were really on top of each other in the old space," she said. "We'll be better able to serve the community here."
The new location also provides room for the Eastern York Recreation Authority, which moved in after the building opened in October 2020. Although the facility has been open since last fall, COVID-19 restrictions prevented an official open house until now, Mann explained.
The decision to build a new facility was not taken lightly, said Phil Smith, chair of the board of supervisors. The old building dates to at least the 1970s, and it needed extensive repairs, he explained. Since the township already owned the land across the street, the decision was made to build a new facility rather than trying to fix the old one. The old building will be given to the Kreutz Creek Library, which will move from its current FEMA trailer location next door.
To complete the project, the township hired a grant writer and a financial adviser, who helped keep the construction within budget, Mann said. "We received over $1 million in grants," she stated. Lobar Associates handled the design and building of the project, which allowed the township to customize the plans to meet its specific needs, including creating a covered and gated area for police cars to park.
"We now have the space to upgrade our police department," Smith said, noting that the department is working toward accreditation and the improved facility will help achieve that goal.
The open house will be the first time the public has been invited into the building since it opened, Smith remarked. It's important for township members to see where their tax dollars are going, he said.
"Part of our vision in building this was to be as transparent as possible so people can see what we're doing with their money," he commented. "Even though our space is bigger, we did everything in a frugal way. We didn't build a Taj Mahal."
Mann invited anyone who is interested to come to the open house and meet the people who serve the community. "Come out and see more about how the municipality runs," she said.
For more information on Hellam Township, visit http://www.hellamtownship.com.
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