Thursday, July 11, 2024, became a historic day for Lycoming County. The last time a new building was established as headquarters for county government was in May of 1988 when Executive Plaza began as the county government headquarters. If one is standing in front of the Lycoming County Courthouse, the county government headquarters has moved from a building behind the courthouse to one that is in front of it, 33 Third Street Plaza, to be exact.

Several county departments had been using Third Street Plaza for months, but the commissioners officially moved over on July 11th. The skeptic in the house (yours truly) was rather impressed with the new headquarters and its potential.

The meeting room resembles the old one in its basic structure: commissioners, director, and solicitor up front on a long table, county department heads and others facing them in rows of chairs. But the new venue is also different in many ways.

First off, everything is new, even regarding things that are old. Heritage is a big part of the Lycoming County government tradition, evidenced by a bookcase in the back of the meeting room that has a variety of different awards given to the county over the years from PennDOT, CCAP (County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania), PEMA, STEP, Odyssey of the Mind, etc. There are various symbols throughout the room, signifying the heritage of the county’s government.

But it is also a place that is state of the art as well. The best new things are the technological improvements. Instead of mics in front of the commissioners, they hang them from the ceiling. This might seem distracting, but they are quite discreet in size and also an improvement from the former sound magnification. The same goes for the screen in the front of the room, which is quite large and in better proportion than the one in the old conference room.

However, the Lycoming Commissioners themselves are the same. When the clock hit 10:00 a.m., Commissioner Metzger called the meeting to order, offered a prayer, and then led everyone into the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. For those who have never attended a meeting or watched it on YouTube, most of the meetings are rather rudimentary. Almost all of the action items are for approving budgeted items, contracts, or projects. Occasionally, something comes up that causes some back-and-forth discussion, but rarely does it get ugly. This initial meeting on July 11th was not particularly noteworthy outside of the fact that it was the initial meeting.

The official meeting was over by 11:00, and the ribbon-cutting ceremony took place in the same room at 11:30. The fifty chairs were filled, and some stood in the back, many of whom were the county’s who’s who.

Commissioner Metzger was obviously moved by the significance of this event and admitted as much. As he was preparing to cut the ribbon, standing with his fellow Lycoming County Commissioners Marc Sortman and Mark Mussina and former commissioners Ernie Larson and Tony Mussare, it had the feel of a historic moment.

The hope is that the new building and all its advantages will benefit all the citizens of Lycoming County. As the British author C. S. Lewis once wrote, “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”