Dewey Beach gives WMDT a tour of new Town Hall building

DEWEY BEACH, Del. – Dewey Beach is pleased to announce its new town hall building that will be opening very soon. This will replace the current building, which was transformed from a house to town hall.

Bill Zolper, the Town Manager, gave Ronnell Foreman a tour. The upgrades revolve around placing several town departments in one space. This includes a new police station, clerk’s office, and Dewey Beach Town Council.

Zolper explained that the old site was not giving the staff proper space. “You can see how we are all the way here. And then the bathrooms are shared by the police, so that we put locks on the doors, because the prisoners get out to keep them from coming on this side.”

“The whole building is $10.5 million for the construction, not counting the furniture, the IT, the security cameras, and the controlled access,” said Zolper.

The building is secured with bulletproof walls, windows, and glass. To have access, you must have the proper keycard.

Bill Zolper showed Ronnell the new police station. The building will have additional cells, interview rooms, and equipment storage. “The person who is arrested is processed here, the fingerprint is scanned here, and then they can also be arraigned by the JP court by Zoom.”

The Commissioners are also getting a dedicated room for council meetings, zoning meetings, and other announcement meetings that impact the town.

“All our meetings are currently at the lifeguard station. During the summer, we have lifeguards walking in and out to use the bathroom, and we are in the middle of meetings, so now this is our new meeting room.”

“This will be a really nice change for all of our employees from where we currently are, for all our employees, they deserve a good working environment to be in, as they support the people of Dewey Beach and the visitors of Dewey Beach.”