After about four years of planning and construction, Centre County’s $30 million transformation of a former nursing home into the Community Services Building is complete, with more than 100 staff members getting familiar with their new spaces.
The 118,000-square-foot building, located at 502 E. Howard St. in the former Centre Crest nursing home, had its official ribbon cutting Thursday. It holds all of the county’s human services departments, including the children and youth services, mental health, intellectual disability, early intervention, drug and alcohol, veterans’ affairs and office of aging departments.
Also located in the three-floor building is the county’s elections office and some members of its information technology, records and maintenance staff. Eventually, the Bellefonte Senior Center will be located there, too.
“The opening of the Community Services building represents a new era for Center County Government, one in which the thoughtful design of this campus matches the commitment we have long-held to providing the best possible care and service to Centre County residents,” Commissioner Amber Concepcion said.
The Centre County Community Service Building on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025.
Repurposing a former nursing home
The new building was designed with trauma-informed care at the forefront, while also catering to the mental and physical well-being of those who use the space, county officials said.
“We can now provide carefully planned spaces for each of our human services departments in close proximity to each other, and designed purposefully with the needs of our residents and the work being done here,” Concepcion said.
“The co-location of all of these departments represents not only convenience for residents who will find all of these services in one place, but also a commitment to collaboration and continual improvement in how we care for those in need in our communities, and how we provide vital and often life-saving services.”
The Veterans’ Affairs office in the Centre County Community Service Building on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025.
Commissioner Mark Higgins said that every detail of the new building was designed to ensure that everyone who walks in feels “seen, supported and empowered,” and that the county’s human services departments are “the quiet engine of a thriving community.”
He and the other commissioners also credited former Commissioner Michael Pipe, who heavily advocated for the building’s repurposing before he left his position at the county in 2023 to take a job with Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration.
In 2021, Pipe, Higgins and Commissioner Steve Dershem began planning to repurpose the 90-year-old building after Centre Crest moved to a new facility in College Township. Centre Crest had been owned by the county before it became a nonprofit nursing home eventually renamed Centre Care.
A large conference room in the Centre County Community Service Building on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025.
Larger spaces, upgrades for county departments
Amenities for visitors and employees alike can be found throughout the new building, starting on its bottom floor, or what used to be Centre Crest’s basement.
The county’s elections department and its information technology, records and maintenance staffs are located there — each in an office space larger than at their former location, the Willowbank Building.
An atrium leading to a courtyard can also be found on the bottom floor, along with a multipurpose room that will be used to hold meetings and trainings. During election season, the election office’s vote-by-mail center, which was previously at the Penn State Hotel & Conference Center, will also be located there.
A room that the election office will use for mail-in ballot counting in the Centre County Community Service Building.
Visitors enter the building on the ground floor, where they’ll undergo a security check and make their way to a check-in area. From there, they’ll move to an open reception area, where someone from one of the building’s many departments will soon meet with, and escort, them to where they need to be.
“It’s meant to be convenient for both staff and visitors,” Human Services Administrator Julia Sprinkle said on a building tour. “There’s no risk of anyone getting confused by having to wander through the building to find the department they need.”
The atrium of the Centre County Community Service Building on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025.
The ground floor will house the adult services and veterans’ affairs departments and the office of aging. A cafe area with a snack bar for employees is also located on the ground floor, along with a few conference rooms and the future home of the senior center.
A cafe space in the Centre County Community Service Building on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025.
The county’s CYS department is located on the second floor, as well as two spaces that simulate realistic, apartment-like living areas. One has a shower and the other has a bath, but both have a bedroom, kitchen and seating space, and allow the department’s employees to temporarily house children, if needed.
“[The rooms] can also be used as a way for parents to be able to both demonstrate or be educated on basic needs,” Sprinkle said. “There’s a crib in there, so that a parent could show how they’re able to put a child to sleep, or bathe a child.”
A space to be used for Children & Youth Services visitation and education in the Centre County Community Service Building on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025.
The county’s mental health, drug and alcohol, intellectual disability and early intervention departments are also on the second floor, along with a workout area for employees, a visitation and play area for children and some more conference rooms.
Aside from the larger spaces for employees, there are several other aspects of the building that were built with the intention of creating a relaxing environment, such as large, open windows to let in natural light, soothing wall colors, brighter lighting and more.
“The new building just feels a lot happier. It’s brighter in here, it’s more comfortable, it’s bigger and it makes you happy to come into work,” said Catherine Arbogast, an administrator for the county’s drug and alcohol department.
The lobby for the mental health, intellectual disabilities and early intervention and drug and alcohol office at the Centre County Community Service Building.
Many of those who attended the ribbon cutting remarked on how different the inside of the new building looks compared to Centre Crest. Higgins recalled a county employee whose mother had once stayed at the nursing home and told him that the room she stayed in was “unrecognizable.”
But the building also still brings back memories for many, including Dershem, who said he spent many days walking the halls of Centre Crest when it was county-owned.
“There were so many things that happened in this building that were so good, for so long, for so many and this is one of those times when I look around and I realize the vision has expanded,” he said. “We’re not just providing a home and a residency for folks, we’re providing services from cradle, literally to the end of days.
“This building was always full of people, full of employees, full of residents, full of life and full of caring — and now it’s back.”
While the majority of work on the new building has been finished, a few smaller tasks still remain, including moving in the senior center and a few other departments. Construction on an additional 26-spot parking lot is also being finished, but the building’s main parking lot is still open for visitors.
The new building is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and is closed on the weekends.
A visitation room for the Children & Youth Services in the Centre County Community Service Building on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025.
A space mimicking an apartment to be used for Children & Youth Services visitation and education in the Centre County Community Service Building on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025.
The Elections Office at the Centre County Community Service Building on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025.
The reception area of the Centre County Community Service Building on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025.
The Centre County Community Service Building on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025.
