ORANGEBURG COUNTY, S.C. — The county of Orangeburg began demolition for the site of its new courthouse last September. Now the county says they are in their final steps before construction begins.
Angel Howell is the administrative services division director for Orangeburg County. She says progress is well underway.
“We are waiting on the final drawings from the architect once we attain those then we can work on the specs to put it out to bid," said Howell. "The county expects the construction phase of the project to go out to bid in the first quarter of 2025.”
The new courthouse is expected to cost $62 million and the money for construction will come from the capital project sales tax and bond funds.
County councilwoman Latisha Walker says the new courthouse will better serve residents in the county.
“Considering that the population has increased drastically," said Walker. "We have to be able to accommodate our citizens by having additional parking, additional court rooms in the courthouse and also more room in general to cover the population.”
Howell says the new courthouse adds to the city and county’s effort to revitalize downtown Orangeburg.
“Between the city and the county of Orangeburg there has been talks of having green space at the facility and also EV stations for electric vehicles," said Howell. "This is an important time in history for the county of Orangeburg and everyone is looking forward to see the courthouse come to fruition as well as rail road corner.”
Construction on the county courthouse is expected to begin in Spring of 2025. The county tells News19 they have a pre-application meeting and an interior design meeting this week.