“This is a major landmark in county history,” said county Commissioner Greg Simmons. The facility will provide convenient, efficient access to services with its location near the interstate, he said.
The county was pleased to partner with the state on the project, Simmons said.
The county-owned building of around 16,300 square feet replaces the previous One Stop Shop that housed the BMV operations, county Auto Title and the Ohio State Patrol exam and inspection operations in leased space off Experiment Farm Road north of Ohio 41 and west of I-75.
The building cost $7.35 million for architecture and construction services, said Michael Clarey, the county commissioners’ chief administrative officer.
Thursday’s activities included short comments and a proclamation presented by Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a ribbon cutting ceremony and tours of the offices inside the building. LaRose said the Department of Development serves as a “welcome mat” to those who may do business in one of the county’s communities.
The new One Stop Shop was a long-talked-about project with initial planning dating to 2016. The closing of the BMV offices in Piqua in 2016 led to a large increase in traffic at the Experiment Farm Road One Stop Shop. The building was too small for the added business and lacked adequate parking for the various offices and their needs, said Shawn Peeples, the county Clerk of Courts.
Peeples recalled when the concept for a new One Stop Shop was taken before the commissioners in 2017 by the late Clerk of Courts Jan Mottinger and Billie Ray, an inspector for the Title Department.
The men, he said, “were very, very persistent and relentless,” Peeples said.
App Architecture was hired to handle the design and Arcon Builders was general contractor.
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