More than 50 state, county, city and chamber officials from southern Denton County celebrated the official ground breaking for the new Denton County Precinct 3 Government Center at Valley Parkway and Civic Circle in Lewisville.
The two-story, 40,700-square-foot building will house offices for Precinct 3 Commissioner Bobbie Mitchell, Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Becky Kerbow’s courtroom, Precinct 3 Constable Jerry Rayburn’s office as well as the Texas Department of Public Safety, county clerk and tax assessor/collector offices for southern Denton County, veterans services and an adult probation office. A multi-purpose community room will be included in the facility slated for completion in 360 days.
Ratcliff Construction is building the facility which will feature local brick, cast stone, a standing seam metal roof and native plants – part of the county’s plan to seek its first LEED Gold certification, officials said.
After the first phase is complete, the existing Lee Walker Government Center will be torn down and replaced with a new one-story facility housing offices for the health department, WIC and juvenile probation, said Commissioner Bobbie Mitchell during her welcome speech to a crowd that included state representatives Tan Parker and Ron Simmons as well as Lewisville Mayor Dean Ueckert, Lake Dallas Mayor Tony Marino, County Judge Mary Horn, Precinct 4 Commissioner Andy Eads, among others.
“It will still be called the Lee Walker Government Center,” Mitchell said.
The Lee Walker Government Center was built in the 1970s, Mitchell said, and it was high time for a new facility to serve residents in the southern half of Denton County. The buildings will be funded by a $495 million bond package approved by voters across Denton County, $395 million of which is designated for roads and the remainder for county facilities.
Horn told the crowd the time was right for building new facilities with the county’s AAA bond rating bringing low interest rates as bonds are sold.
“It’s time to make hay while the sun shines,” she said, adding that interest rates were between 1 to 2.5 percent.
Simmons, addressing the crowd, called Denton County the poster child for being fiscally conservative. “When I think of how government is supposed to run, it is Denton County.”
Parker said it was good to be in “Bobbie country,” referring to Mitchell’s precinct and to her service as a former Lewisville mayor. He added the building showed good fiscal conservatism.
In a brochure passed out during the ceremony, the building’s description included a two-story entrance highlighting the facade and opening into an airy, daylit main vestibule. Flanking the main entrance will be colonnades providing shade and direct access to the community room as well as the adult probation office.
Mitchell said plans are underway to build a government facility in Flower Mound to house Precinct 4 Commissioner Andy Eads and his staff.
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