ISLE OF WIGHT—A new county courthouse, emergency operations center and emergency communications center all moved closer to reality Wednesday when the Board of Supervisors set a Nov. 20 public hearing on the project.

Plans call for the construction of the new courthouse on county-owned land adjacent to the administration building. The building will cost about $16.5 million to build, according to Patrick Small, the county’s economic development director.

Further up U.S. Route 258 toward Smithfield, the county plans to build the new emergency operations center and emergency communication center. Small said one fire engine and one rescue vehicle would be housed at that location.

Small said the design and engineering phases of the project are nearly complete, and the site plan approval has been granted by the board.

“We expect to bid the documents in January, award a bid in March, and be under construction shortly thereafter with a 12-month construction period,” Small said.

Moseley Architects, a Richmond-based firm, designed the new courthouse building.

“The court functions have outgrown the space that they’re in,” Small said. “They don’t meet modern security standards, they don’t serve the public, (and) they don’t have enough office space (or) document storage.”