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Space-needs study: county seeks two new courtrooms and plans office moves; report due this spring
Summary
AECOM and county public-works staff updated commissioners on a space-needs assessment that identifies two new courtrooms as an immediate need, recommends moving some departments to a nearby county-owned building and details further building and site assessments to guide capital planning.
Tom Henry, the county's public works construction manager, told the Board of County Commissioners the most urgent space need is adding two courtrooms at the Inverness courthouse and that doing so requires relocating several tenant offices.
Henry said staff are under design for the courtroom expansion and for renovating a nearby county-owned building (identified in the meeting as the Koch/Coca-Cola building) to house displaced tenant departments. "In order to bring those [two courtrooms] online, we'll have to move some of our tenant partners to other locations," Henry said. He told commissioners county staff plan to re-use the same contractor where possible to save time and cost.
Jake Devost, a senior workplace consultant with AECOM, described a county-contracted space-needs assessment that covers eight buildings across three sites (Lecanto, Meadowcrest/West Citrus Government Center, and the Inverness Courthouse). AECOM conducted site walks and interviews with 13 county departments and constitutional offices to develop a program of requirements, a conditions assessment and a building-and-infrastructure plan.
Devost said the study will produce a program of requirements (the quantities and sizes of space types) that the county can use to design and cost future building work. "This assessment will guide future capital planning efforts to better allocate resources that serve both the county employees, the elected officials, and of course the community of Citrus County," he said.
Henry said near-term work also includes renovating the former Nature Coast EMS building to relocate Water Resources and other departments and that the county expects to bid that project in the near term. He said teams are looking for smaller renovation opportunities countywide to consolidate operations and achieve maintenance and service efficiencies.
Erin Doran said funding for the judicial expansion is already programmed in the county CIP: $2.9 million in fiscal 2025 and an additional roughly $3.5 million in fiscal 2026, though she said that the Koch-building option may change how funds are used.
Commissioners pressed staff about long-term consolidation benefits, operational efficiencies and the timing for relocations. Henry said the county has about 21 or 22 active facility projects in his portfolio and expects several to begin construction within the next 12 to 18 months.
AECOM and county staff said final deliverables for the study — including the building-and-infrastructure plan and the program of requirements — are due later this spring; commissioners requested the final report and cost estimates before making final relocation or construction decisions.
