Demolition is first phase of new Family Court project
It didn’t take long for work to get started following a June 28 groundbreaking ceremony for the new Sussex County Family Courthouse complex in downtown Georgetown. Demolition of several buildings in the South Race Street-Market Street-East Pine Street block has started.
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 in Sussex County, which has nearly doubled since the existing Family Court 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, and a 300-car parking garage.
The state purchased a large section of the parcel from Sussex County, which used the area for parking. Sussex County Administrator Todd Lawson said two lots behind the county administration building have been secured with gates, reserving parking for county employees only. He said when the courthouse project is completed, part of the sales agreement with the state includes 100 spaces in a to-be-constructed parking garage for county staff.
