photo by: Mike Yoder/Journal-World File Photo

The Douglas County Jail is shown in this file photo from February 2015.

County leaders will soon consider approving the budget for a multimillion-dollar jail maintenance project.

As part of its meeting Wednesday, the Douglas County Commission will consider approving a total project budget of $5.6 million and the guaranteed maximum price proposal with Turner Construction in the amount of about $5.3 million, according to a county staff memo.

The commission has indicated support for the project and approved an addition to the design contract in March, at which time the total anticipated construction cost was about $4.02 million. The memo states the project budget has increased since the first review in January because construction costs have increased at record rates and because a need has been identified to replace a fire suppression system and water pumps.

The jail was built in 1997. The maintenance project includes parking lot repairs, elevator upgrades, plumbing replacement, upgrades to the jail’s sliding detention doors and repairs at the jail’s central heating and cooling plant. All of the upgrades were originally included in the county’s $30 million jail expansion project, but that plan was controversial and was discontinued last year, leaving the maintenance projects undone.