No elected official denied the need for a fifth fire station for Douglas County.

But construction bids for the firefighting post have come in about $500,000 more than the original $4.07 million estimate, and that has created a quandary for city and county commissioners.

The lowest bid for the project was $4.57 million — which exceeds the construction budget by $497,000. Total cost for the project has been estimated at $5 million, with the city of Lawrence covering 75 percent of the costs and Douglas County paying 25 percent.

The new station is planned for the southwest corner of 19th Street and Stewart Avenue on land leased from the Kansas University Endowment Association for $1 a year. It also would house fire and medical administration offices.

The high construction bids have both city and county commissions struggling with how to handle the situation. Some officials said they are seriously considering rebidding the project. Others said they didn’t know whether that would help since the cost of materials continues to increase.

County Commissioner Jere McElhaney said he thought the best option may be going back to the drawing board.

“We told the public that it would cost ‘x’ amount, and I think we have to stay by our guns and commit to our words,” he said.

City Commissioner David Dunfield, McElhaney, city and county staff members and Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical officials met Wednesday to go over the project with architects, seeking ways to reduce costs.

Deputy Fire Chief Mark Bradford said his agency was looking at anything that could reduce the cost of construction without changing the “quality of the project.”

He said information regarding possible cost cuts would be sent to city commissioners today to give them time to review the information for their regular Tuesday meeting.

“Unless something comes back with a good amount of cost savings, my preference would be to go ahead with the project as it is bid, but I will wait to make that decision Tuesday,” City Commissioner Boog Highberger said.

City Commissioner David Schauner said he also wanted to know where cuts could be made. But he said he would be open to cutting back on the project so it fit the estimated cost of construction.

“At this point, someone is going to pay the extra $500,000, and that will be the taxpayers,” Schauner said. “I think we need to bring the cost back into where it was.”