Gaston County houses the majority of its administrative offices in a 40,000 square foot former bank building on Main Avenue in downtown Gastonia, NC. Over the years, as the services of Gaston County have grown, the interiors of the building have been renovated, upfitted, squeezed, reallocated and expanded where possible to accommodate the increased staff and added services. The result is that the Gaston County staff is working in less-than-satisfactory, crowded and, in some cases, unsafe conditions. The county has realized it was time to make a move.

In 1998, BB&T, a bank based in Mt. Airy, NC, decided to sell its western North Carolina center of operations in downtown Gastonia, conveniently located just a block away from the existing Gaston County Administration Building. It is a three-story 85,000 square foot building that would lend itself very well to renovation for general office purposes, just what Gaston County needed. An offer was made to BB&T by the county, the building changed hands and Gaston County became the proud owner of a building twice the size of the current administration building offering space to accommodate additional agencies that needed to be centrally located to the bulk of the county offices and with extra space into which it could expand within the foreseeable future.

In late 1999, Clary Architects, Inc. was selected by Gaston County to serve as the architect working with the Public Works Department of Gaston County in the renovation and layout of the recently acquired BB&T building. Major renovation was scheduled for the exterior skin of the building, the removal of two banks of escalators which were not in keeping with County needs, the expansion of toilets to comply with codes was incorporated and a reorientation of the building for its primary entrance to be from the north side of the building where the bulk of the public parking had been provided. After a delay of approximately two and one half years, the project was funded and bids were received in early 2004. Completion and occupancy is scheduled for early 2005. Construction cost was estimated at $5.6 million and the low bidder was awarded a contract for $5.59 million.