Thursday, October 1, 2026
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75 ° Clear
At one time, Falls Township locals could buy a car or shop for furniture at the old building that served for many years as the township’s municipal headquarters at 188 Lincoln Highway in Fairless Hills. But the aging and outdated building needed extensive work to modernize it and accommodate the township’s growing needs for its residents, businesses, the police department and local government agencies.
After almost three years and at a cost of approximately $41 million, the township’s new complex officially welcomed the public in early March at a ribbon cutting ceremony and gave tours of the 61,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art two-story building. The building’s design honors the township’s history while providing 21st century accessibility and amenities to residents and business owners and maximizing space for future growth. All employees, police officers and “Archie,” the township’s official mascot, moved back into the renovated building on February 10 after working in temporary offices and other area locations for about 28 months.
“Our old building was a former furniture store and before that, it was a Reedman’s showroom. The township bought it and turned it into a township building, but it was never designed to be for that,” recalled Jeffry Dence, chairman of the township’s board of supervisors. “The layout was not very good. We had an atrium that was falling down on us. About 10 years ago, we discussed building a new building, but at the time, the price was more than we wanted to spend after the bids came back. So, we paused on that, but we had to do something.”
The township opted for a full renovation rather than demolishing the existing structure. The original building was completely gutted and rebuilt. As such, some of the structural aspects of the new design reflect Falls township’s history.
“Falls Township, Fairless Hills, and Levittown were built for the steel mill. So, our tribute to steel is the exposed beams you see inside here in the building. You'll see a lot of exposed steel,” said Dence who has served as a supervisor for 17 years. Another part of the design acknowledges the centuries of Falls Township’s history in Lower Bucks County with vintage photos from the earlier part of the 20th century, murals recognizing all of the local parks within the township and an enormous map of the community that encompasses parts of Fairless Hills and Levittown. The design also includes references to the Lenape tribes that lived in Falls Township many years ago.
The building has entirely new security, mechanical and electrical systems, plumbing and HVAC, high efficiency LED light fixtures and equipment, advanced audiovisual systems, and approximately 20 percent more dedicated space for the police department. Another important feature of the new facility is the overall emphasis on serving the community, residents and businesses.
“I’m looking at this building as if it's the people’s house,” said township supervisor John Palmer. “We came a long way. We debated about building a new building but the bones were still good here so we kept a lot of the steel. As Chairman Dence said, the steel you see here represents USX when Falls was thriving for generations and this was our identity. We sat down with every department head and we asked, ‘what do you need?’ They all had high input for each department. We wanted to make it extremely accessible to all of the community, our seniors, first-time home buyers that are coming in. We wanted everybody to feel comfortable. And, we’re really proud of the space for community-based startup businesses,” Palmer said.
According to township officials, the building has shared flexible conference rooms, incubator space for start-up businesses and common areas for seating inside and outside the building. All municipal functions are located on the first floor near the main entrance for convenience and easy access. The public meeting room, where the supervisors meet, has ample space and seating and it can convert to a community room for use by residents and local groups.
“In the public meeting room, we're now able to have a full house without standing room only and the audio is just second to none. We're trying to be as transparent as possible with all meetings,” Palmer said.
Falls Township resident Donna Petrecco, who also serves as Bucks County’s Prothonotary, toured the building. “I’m very impressed by the building, especially considering how rundown the previous building was. The community can use the building now. It has a much better atmosphere and environment. It’s a building our residents can be proud of,” she said.
Bill and Linda Russell have been Falls Township residents for 35 years. They toured the building and commented about the design and its accessibility to the community. “Overall, I think it’s a really nice construction job,” Bill said. “I like that there’s a lot of room for community space,” Linda added.
Construction started in October 2023 and completed in February 2026. Falls Township acknowledges the work of the entire team of contractors that served on the project including construction manager James Gates of Grace Construction Management Company and primary contractors Rycon Construction Inc, as general contractor, QPI Electrical, as electrical contractor, Allstates Mechanical, as HVAC contractor and MYCO Mechanical Inc, as plumbing contractor.
IEI Architects + Designblendz served as the architect; Jones Engineering Associates served as the civil engineer and Remington & Vernick Engineers served as the mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) engineer.
For more information on Falls Township, visit www.fallstwp.com.
