District Judge Carolyn Bengel is moving up -- the hill, that is.
Bengel's office, long a staple on Garfield Street in Harrison's Natrona section, will move in about two months to a new location in Natrona Heights.
The new office is slated to open by Nov. 1 in an addition to a floral shop at Morgan Street, just off Freeport Road.
The change is being made to get more space and parking, according to deputy Allegheny County Solicitor John Woltz.
Since the early 1990s, Bengel and two clerks have occupied a little more than 2,000 square-feet of office and court records storage at 53 Garfield St.
The new office will have about 2,600 square-feet of space.
While the Natrona site uses on-street parking, the new office will have off-street parking, Woltz said.
"She also had some security issues," he said.
The new office will have a separate entrance for people in police or constable custody. These people will have a locked waiting area that will have a restroom. A separate public restroom will be available. The current location forces both the public and those in custody to use the same entrance and restroom.
The county will pay about $12 a square foot - or about $2,495 a month - to start. That will gradually increase to $13 a square-foot within 10 years.
The current lease -- dated 2006 -- is for $7.54 a square foot annually, Woltz said.
The annual change will about double charges to about $29,000 annually.
Bengel is enthusiastic about getting off-street parking and more room.
"But I'm going to miss the people of Natrona," she said.
She said a retired county judge did a study of district court needs in Allegheny County.
"Mine was at the top of needs," Bengel said.
Woltz said there are 55 district judge offices in the county.
Counties pay for district judge office space but state tax dollars will pay for the move.
