Carbon County is moving forward on finding more office space for its departments.

On Thursday, the county commissioners approved an agreement with Form Space Design/Dennis R. Connell, AIA, architect, for basic architectural and engineering services regarding the Susquehanna Street project.The cost for the 36-month contract is $260,000.The commissioners said that the architect will look at the current archives/maintenance building and parking lot on Susquehanna Street to see what office space and parking can be constructed there to alleviate some of the cramped quarters some county departments are facing.In May, the commissioners announced that they plan on demolishing the current archives/maintenance building at the site once the archives department is moved to the east side of Jim Thorpe and construct a new multistory building next to the 76 Susquehanna St. office building and create a single entrance for the two buildings.Departments that would benefit from this are currently located inside the courthouse.The new office building may also house a small fourth courtroom to allow for domestic relations hearing to take place and address a fourth judge if it is needed down the road.Final plans as to what departments and what all will be included in the building have not yet been finalized.The cost of the project is being funded through a $7.75 million bond that was approved in January for capital improvement projects. The action was part of a $14 million bond series that was refinanced.