Local, Dauphin County and state officials are pictured breaking ground for the new Upper Dauphin Human Services Center, scheduled for completion in early 2009. (Sentinel photo by Duane Good)

Ground was broken May 1 for what Dauphin County officials have named the Upper Dauphin Human Services Center, a new building scheduled for completion in early 2009. The building, which will house several human service agencies and satellite offices for county government, will be located  at 25 State Road beside the state police barracks  east of Elizabethville. It was designed to be 10,292-square-feet in size, with all offices to be located on one floor. The building will offer local residents access to services in one modern building in a location central to most residents of northern Dauphin County, according to county officials.

As of press time, the building is scheduled to house Capital Area Transit Share-A-Ride, Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, Edgewater Human Services, Information and Referral Services and Keystone Human Services.

Government satellite offices planned for the building  include Area Agency on Aging, Adult Probation, Children and Youth Services, Department of Drug and Alcohol Services, Mental Health/Mental Retardation, and Office of Vocational Rehabilitation.

At this time, the Upper Dauphin Human Services Center Inc., currently located in Elizabethville and active in northern Dauphin County since 1977, wants to continue operating in some form and has made its case to county officials for continuing its services, either in the new building or at its existing location. County officials said they also want the center to continue its work, meeting specific needs that can't  be met otherwise.

The new building was several years in development and will bring county offices and other human service agencies - some of which currently are in other buildings in the area - together under one roof, according to county Commissioner George Hartwick III, who spoke at the groundbreaking.

"We believe the residents of upper Dauphin County are deserving of the same services as residents in the lower part of the county,'' Hartwick said.

State Sen. Jeffrey Piccola and state Rep. Sue Helm also spoke at the groundbreaking and praised the building - and the services it will house - as necessary to local residents.

The building's site and  design were developed with input from a 45-member Advisory Panel and Location/Image Subcommitee of the panel.

"It was a joint effort. Many discussions were held  before we reached a final decision,'' said Advisory Panel member Susan Jacobs, executive director of the Northern Dauphin County Branch YMCA.

State and federal funding will be used to finance the building's construction. No monies from Dauphin County's General Fund will be used, Hartwick said at the groundbreaking.

T.L. Rowe of Millersburg is the general contractor for the building project. The property for the building was provided through Donlo Partnership, also locally based.