STROUDSBURG, Pa. -- Big changes are on the horizon for the Monroe County Courthouse in Stroudsburg.
County officials are planning a multi-million dollar expansion.
"The courthouse is extremely overcrowded. We have no room to do anything there. Even with our moving of the public defender and district attorney, county detectives to 701 Main, we still have a shortage of space," said Commissioner John Christy, (D) Monroe County.
A construction company out of New York State has been hired to do the work.
The expansion will create room for more courtrooms and a few judge's chambers.
The plan is to build right next to the courthouse on North 6th Street, where there is currently a drive-thru PNC Bank.
County officials tell Newswatch 16 they have been in talks with representatives from PNC Bank. The hope is to buy the property, but it can also be taken by eminent domain.
The expansion is important to many departments that work out of the courthouse, including the prothonotary's office, where space is limited.
"The last expansion was done in the 1970s to the courthouse, so we are working with 1970s technology, in a 1970s building and we are also working with the space requirements from 1970," said George Warden, the county prothonotary.
He says the expansion will not only create much-needed space, but it will also move his department to the first floor.
The move will be easier for people who come in and out.
"People come to pay their costs and fines, people come for marriage licenses, people come for passports, civil filings. They are constantly running up to the third floor," said Warden.
Final details, including the cost of the project, will be worked out this year.