Toombs County Courthouse and Detention Center
Lyons, GA

In 2018, Hussey Gay Bell was commissioned by the County to evaluate their existing courthouse built in 1964 on a 6.56-acre site and their detention center built in the early 1990s on 4.82 acres next to the courthouse site in central Lyons, Georgia. The overall goal of the study was to provide the Toombs County Commission with the most viable option to develop a Courthouse and Detention Center Complex to house all court functions, all County administrative offices, and to accommodate growth in the County to a population of 50,000 from the current 28,000, while staying in downtown Lyons.

The facility evaluation resulted in the development of an overall feasibility study complete with seven (7) project concept plans and associated opinions of cost. The firm worked intimately with stakeholders to identify the most viable and cost-appropriate solution and, in 2020, the firm commenced full design efforts on the project to demo the existing courthouse and to expand the existing detention center.

The project involves construction of a new 68,000 SF 4-story judicial center and connecting it to the existing jail thereby creating a cohesive campus. The detention center includes the construction of two (2) new housing units, renovation of the existing inmate housing unit, and expansion/renovation of the intake building. The courthouse site includes parking facilities encompassing a centralized park to be used for a variety of community activities. To further enhance the site’s community feel, the centralized park was developed for the adjacent parcel, creating a view from downtown Lyons and an inviting pedestrian corridor throughout the campus.