Lycoming County’s needs, of course, shift and change over time. The expectations for what our hard-working county employees and officials need to accomplish — and the tools and resources they need to meet those expectations — change over time as well.

The need for a new facility for Lycoming County’s coroner to better equip him and his staff to fulfill those shifting obligations was, we believe, clear to everyone in the community. Our county coroners has been a leader in difficult times and on some difficult issues, including the terrible loss of life due to drug overdoses and the tragic losses of life during the pandemic, and over the past several years he has articulately made the case for how Lycoming County will be better served by this new facility.

We are glad that the staff of the county coroner’s office expects to be moved into their new facility this fall, as reported at a recent meeting of our county commissioners.

The development of this project took considerable leadership and measured deliberations by both our county coroner and by Lycoming County’s board of commissioners. They deserve credit for ensuring that this necessity is being met.

Credit is also due to the contractors who have worked on building this new facility so that it can best meet the needs of our county.

We believe every constituent of our coroner and commissioners should appreciate this step forward and we have every confidence that the new facility will help our coroner’s office and staff continue to perform their difficult work with the professionalism for which the people of Lycoming County know them.