Running low on office space, the Stafford County Board of Supervisors approved a contract with an architectural firm to study improving its existing workspace for county employees.
Dewberry Architects Inc., a Maryland-based firm, will conduct a space needs study of the offices inside the county’s general government building at 1300 Courthouse Road. The county’s staff, now 1,219 employees strong, continues to grow, challenging departments to find office space within government buildings.
Since 2000, the county has welcomed 64,000 new residents, according to population data on file at the Weldon Cooper Center at the University of Virginia.
In addition to the county’s central government center, Dewberry will also survey other county buildings to identify ways the county government effectively uses its existing office space. Stafford will use the study results to make decisions on how to best meets is order to meet its space needs over the next 10 years.
Study recommendations could include options for building renovations, additions, and new facilities.
Excluded from the study will be the county’s fire and rescue and the sheriff’s offices, which work from the Ford T. Humphrey Public Safety Building, located near the central government center. The regional landfill, court, and the Social Services Department will also be exempt from the study.
The county set aside $45 million to replace its iconic courthouse with a new judicial center built between the government center and the Stafford County Armed Services Memorial.
The study will cost county taxpayers $210,000. County documents did not indicate when the study will be completed.
