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The renovation of the Southampton County Courthouse that was previously scheduled to be complete in April 2023 is now expected to be completely finished in January 2024.

County Administrator Brian S. Thrower offered an update on the project during the Dec. 20 meeting of the Southampton County Board of Supervisors, stating that the latest substantial completion date “is slated for December of ’23, the final being in January of ’24.”

In a Tuesday, Dec. 27, email interview, Thrower said, “The primary reason for the delay in (Heartland Construction Inc.’s) schedule is a result of damage to an underground electrical primary and Dominion Energy transformer serving the adjacent jail property resulting from demolition activities at the courthouse property.”

During his update Dec. 20, he noted that Dominion Energy did complete the primary line and transformer relocation work. 

“Heartland Construction continually revises the project schedule based on the delay pertaining to that work,” he said.

The original Heartland contract amount for the renovation project was $21,583,053.

“There has been a net increase of $438,430.74 due to approved change orders,” Thrower stated Tuesday.

As a result, the new contract total as of Tuesday is $22,021,483.74.

“We’ve processed the contractor’s first 13 pay applications and have paid them $8,149,916.35,” Thrower told supervisors Dec. 20.