Sussex signs parking agreement with state
Through an agreement with the state, Sussex County will have 100 reserved, free parking spaces in a four-story, 300-car parking garage as part of construction of a new Sussex County Family Court building in downtown Georgetown on Market, East Pine and South Race streets.
At its Feb. 21 meeting, Sussex County Council approved the agreement with State of Delaware Office of Management and Budget as presented by County Administrator Todd Lawson.
Under the agreement, the county will contribute $1 million to the state at the beginning of construction and another $1 million upon substantial completion. The garage is estimated to cost $20 million. In addition, the county will contribute 25% of the ongoing maintenance of the garage and toward the state's future capital improvement fund.
In 2021, the county sold four parcels used for employee parking on East Pine Street and East Market Street. In addition, the state has agreed to sell the Justice of the Peace annex building adjacent to the county administration building if the county opts to purchase it when the state vacates the building.
Lawson said county employees will have private access via key cards to one level of parking in the garage.
“This has been in process for nearly five years,” Lawson said. “Now, we have crossed another hurdle.”
Ground was broken June 28 for the new courthouse, with demolition of several buildings on the parcel taking place soon after.
The new $115 million, 107,800-square-foot courthouse will replace an outdated 30,000-square-foot building not far away on The Circle in Georgetown that was built in 1988. The next phase of construction is expected to start in April.
The new facility will have more courtrooms – eight compared to the current six – and those courtrooms will be more than twice the size of existing courtrooms: from 1,400 to 1,800 square feet in the new building versus an average of 600 square feet in the existing courthouse.
The additional courtrooms will allow Family Court staff to better handle the volume of cases, which has nearly doubled since the existing courthouse opened in 1988.
The new complex will also have additional space for the Department of Justice, Office of Defense Services, Office of the Child Advocate and other court system partners.
