PITTSBORO – Chatham County’s new Justice Center is now officially open for business.County officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday afternoon to dedicate the new building, which has been under construction since May 2011. It’s actually been operational for several days, though, and Chatham County spokesperson Debra Henzey says it’s already been a major improvement.

“Probably the most important thing is finally having all of the court-related offices in one place,” she says, “and to have them not be so terribly, terribly crowded–which they’ve been dealing with–and having better security.”

The 90,000-square-foot building is located on East Chatham Street in downtown Pittsboro, about a block away from the historic courthouse.

Speaking of that courthouse, it too is scheduled to reopen sometime this spring, after undergoing nearly three years of reconstruction following a major fire in March of 2010. (The Justice Center project was unrelated.)