DECKER CENTER WEEKS AWAY FROM OPENING
RICHLAND COUNTY, SC (WIS) – We are a little more than a month from a newly renovated project opening in Richland County.
Thousands of people drive by the Decker Center every day at the intersection of O’Neill Court and Decker Boulevard, just down the road from Dent Middle School.
What used to be the Decker Center Shopping Mall has been renovated and will be home to the Central Court Magistrate, which includes traffic courts and magistrate courts, a Richland County Sheriff’s Department Regional Headquarters and a community room.
The project is on schedule with offices set to move in the first week of December. Construction crews have been working diligently to get the finishing touches done.
“Taking this whole building, and I remember when it used to be the Decker Mall. But the challenge of taking this building and turning it into this state-of-the art facility, so that’s probably the most exciting thing. I’m extremely proud of it. I look forward to seeing it when it’s completed,” says Project Manager Thurmond Porter.
Richland County Councilman Jim Manning says it’s taken a lot of people working together but it’s exciting to see the project finally wrapping up.
The center is located in what officials have named the International Corridor. The parking lot will include power supplies for community events. It’s all a part of a revitalization plan for the area.
“When we get this operation in, particularly with the court system, we’re going to have so many people coming. We’re going to have jurors and lawyers and defendants and the law enforcement that wrote the tickets. It’s just going to help the businesses along the corridor. Along with the employees that will be working here every day. So it’s going to be a tremendous economic boom,” says Manning.
The project is about $1.5 million under budget, which Manning says will go toward other projects the county is working on.