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DALLAS — It’s been 56 years since the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Northeast Region had a new headquarters.
That won’t be the case much longer.
The Game Commission broke ground last month for a new regional office that is expected to be completed by next fall. The two-story building will total 15,500 square feet and will be located adjacent to the existing headquarters, which was built in 1961, along Memorial Highway.
A local lawmaker has no issues with the approximately $6.2 million total cost, even though the cash-strapped agency projects its deficit will grow from $12 million in 2015-16 to more than $35 million by 2019-20 if there is no fee increase for hunting licenses.
State Rep. Gerald Mullery, D-Nanticoke, said the cost of the building was discussed during a recent House Game and Fisheries Committee meeting.
Mullery said he didn’t object because the new building had been planned for years and the existing building is costly to maintain.
“It’s my understanding the construction has been in the works in excess of five years and the cost to construct a new building is more feasible than keeping the old one,” he said.
The project was put out to bid Jan. 23, and bids were opened Feb. 23.
A construction contract was awarded to TKS Architects of Mechanicsburg.
Training space
John Morack, a supervisor for the PGC’s Northeast Region, said the old building will be demolished after the move into the new headquarters is complete so there will be no lapse in services. The new headquarters will feature a training center for Game Commission officers, a larger conference room that can be used for public presentations and a communications center, according to Morack.
Currently, the Game Commission utilizes the Pennsylvania State Police training center in Forty Fort, and moving that aspect in-house will improve efficiency, Morack said.
The public will also notice benefits with the new building, he predicted, as there will be a larger reception area complete with wildlife mounts.
Perhaps the biggest benefit, however, will be the elimination of the maintenance costs associated with the old building, which houses a full-time staff of 20 plus officers and biologists who use the existing headquarters throughout the day.
Morack said the building has a roof that leaks, in addition to problems with heating, air conditioning and plumbing.
“Maintenance is an ongoing problem,” Morack said. “The building is almost 60 years old and it’s becoming more of an expense to keep it operational.”
To make room for the new headquarters, the agency demolished a maintenance building at the rear of its property. The building was used for the bear-check station, which has since been moved to the Back Mountain Regional EMA building in Lehman Township. Morack said the bear-check station will be incorporated into the new headquarters or in an existing maintenance building on Game Commission property.
