KAREN VIBERT-KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette Lycoming County President Judge Nancy Butts, left, claps after retired District Judge John McDermott cut the ribbon at the ceremony for the opening of the new Lycoming County Magisterial District Court at 2107 Lycoming Creek Road. Standing behind the bench are, from left, Lycoming County Commissioners Scott Metzger, Tony Mussare and Rick Mirabito and District Judge William Solomon.

Lycoming County Magisterial District Court is open for business at its new location at 2107 Lycoming Creek Road in Williamsport.

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held before a packed courtroom of well-wishers Monday morning at the facility.

Groundbreaking for the new court location was in January 2020 with an estimated cost of $900,000. Soon after the groundbreaking came the pandemic that increased construction costs “dramatically,” sometimes as much as by 75%, according to Kenneth George, the director of Lycoming County Facilities Management. The building was renovated by the Lycoming County Facilities Management Department.

District Judge William Solomon has presided over the court since 2016. The jurisdiction includes Armstrong, Cogan House, Hepburn, Jackson, Lewis, Loyalsock, Susquehanna Townships and DuBoistown Borough.

The court was relocated from a suite in 1965 Lycoming Creek Road, inside the former Franklin School, which the county had leased for more than 40 years.

The building was in need of substantial repairs.

The new location provides a more secure, modern court, that is also served by public transportation. The building was dry floodproofed for resilience during future flood events. This building has much better security in place than the former office, George said. The former office, just a few blocks south of the new building, served as a district judge’s office since the early 1980s.

The pandemic also played havoc with getting the project done, George said.

This new building is considerably larger than the office from which Solomon moved — an increase from 2,000 square feet to 3,500.

Monday’s ceremony included a welcome by President Judge Nancy Butts, prayers from Pastor Don Peters, remarks from all three of the county commissioners, the ribbon cutting by retired District Judge John McDermott, comments from George, John Lavelle, county planning deputy director, and Solomon.