The renovations will temporarily move council, planning and zoning board meetings, as well as court sessions.
If all goes according to the township’s schedule, by the end of the summer Mt. Laurel residents will get the chance to judge renovations set for the courtroom at the township municipal center.
Located at 100 Mt. Laurel Road, the township’s courtroom houses legal proceedings on the second, third and fourth Tuesdays of each month, as well as the first, third and fourth Wednesdays of each month.
In addition, the room also serves as the meeting location for the township’s council, planning board and zoning board.
According to Mt. Laurel Township Manager Meredith Tomczyk, the room will undergo several drastic changes in the coming months.
First and foremost, the floor of the room will be leveled so the room consists of only one level, instead of the current bowl-like design where there are different levels and steps for audience seating, speakers and council.
During this process, Tomczyk said the room’s dais will also be raised and two additional seats will be added so there are enough seats for all members of the township’s planning and zoning boards when those bodies are in full session.
Also set to leave the courtroom are the wooden, folding seats that are commonly found in older lecture halls or auditoriums that currently make up a majority of the seating in the room.
Instead, those seats will be replaced with the same padded chairs that currently sit along the wall of the courtroom’s upper level.
The walls of the courtroom will also be covered in sheetrock, and the windows in the upper portion of the room will be replaced with tinted windows, removing the need for the small blinds that are currently used to block sunlight.
“Your living room is being redone,” said Mt. Laurel Councilman Irwin Edelson as he referenced how he and his fellow members of council often refer to the courtroom at the municipal center as residents’ “living room” where they can come to share issues and concerns about the township with council.
During the renovations, Tomczyk said the township council meetings for June, July and August will be held at the Mt. Laurel Community Center at 7 p.m. on the following dates: June 11, June 25, July 16 and Aug. 13.
Although council was originally scheduled to meet on Aug. 20, council changed the date of that meeting to Aug. 13 to accommodate a conflict by Mayor Richard Van Noord.
As for other functions of the courtroom during renovations, the township planning and zoning board meetings will also be held at the community center, while court sessions for Mt. Laurel Township will be held in Lumberton at the Lumberton Township Municipal Court, 35 Municipal Drive.
Court business outside of court sessions will continue to be handled at the Mt. Laurel Municipal Center.
