Trotwood site approved for new municipal court

Major developments aligning to form new town center.
Trotwood new municipal court building has been approved. The land is on the north side of East Main, east of the new library and west of Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken. JIM NOELKER/STAFF

Credit: JIM NOELKER

Credit: JIM NOELKER

Trotwood new municipal court building has been approved. The land is on the north side of East Main, east of the new library and west of Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken. JIM NOELKER/STAFF

Trotwood and Montgomery County have settled on a location for the county’s new Western Division municipal court, another new project in a surge of development along East Main Street in the city.

Montgomery County commissioners on Tuesday approved a resolution accepting a quit claim deed from the Trotwood Community Improvement Corp. for roughly 3.3 acres of land on the north side of East Main Street, just across Macgregor Drive from the new library.

Chad Downing, executive director of the Trotwood Community Improvement Corp., said the new courthouse is one of three large projects either completed or in the works for the area that will “be one of our city centers” and a “catalyst” for future development.

“This will create more critical mass, create more employment and industry, which will help our other small businesses in this immediate district along Main Street and into Old Town. It will help them greatly in making further investments and growing,” Downing said.

The courthouse construction project will join a planned new Goodwill Easter Seals Miami Valley’s West Campus Community Services Center. Between both projects is the new Dayton Metro Library Trotwood branch. It was set to have its grand opening on March 13, the day the library system was forced to shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. The library has reopened under coronavirus precautions.

The county is moving the Western Division court from New Lebanon to the new location. The court serves Brookville, Clay Twp. Farmersville, Jackson Twp., Jefferson Twp., New Lebanon, Perry Twp., Phillipsburg, Trotwood and Verona. The Eastern Division court in Huber Heights serves that community along with Riverside.

As partners in the project, the county received the site from the Trotwood Community Improvement Corp. at no charge, Downing said.

The nearly $6 million planned facility will provide more than court services, said Montgomery County Administrator Michael Colbert.

“The goal is not to just build a court, but to build a hub that the community can enjoy on a whole magnitude of different services.”

Colbert said the county plans the facility as an “opportunity center” that will provide county workforce and human services resources.

The county plans to hold community input meetings before building details are finalized, according to the county, which expects to break ground at the site in the fall of 2021.

About the Author