photo by: Journal-World

The west side of the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St.

County commissioners selected a construction company on Wednesday for a more than $1 million project that will build a new maintenance facility at the Douglas County Fairgrounds.

At their meeting Wednesday, commissioners unanimously chose to use B.A. Green Construction for the project, which will replace a structure on the fairgrounds that was built in the 1960s and that Jay Zimmerschied, the county’s director of capital projects, has said is “deteriorating.”

The total project cost is now estimated at $1.183 million: $959,000 for the construction of the building itself, and roughly $225,000 for miscellaneous expenses, including leveling a platform that the building will sit on, fixing drainage issues and purchasing new furniture, fixtures and other equipment.

County Administrator Sarah Plinsky said that the total amount was well within the $1.25 million that was allocated for the project in the county’s 2023 Capital Improvement Plan.

“We set a budget for the building and now we’re doing some site work,” Plinsky said, “and we’re still inside the total project budget of under $1.25 million.”

According to materials that Zimmerschied provided for the commission, the new structure would be 5,000 square feet and would improve workplace safety conditions and increase storage capacity.

Before the vote, Commissioner Karen Willey asked Zimmerschied about the timeline for breaking ground on the project.

“Frankly, as quickly as we get a signed contract,” Zimmerschied said. “We hope to get foundations and slabs in the ground before we get freezing weather.”

In other business, the commission:

• As part of the consent agenda, unanimously approved a transportation-related amendment to Plan 2040, the joint city-county comprehensive plan. Dubbed “Transportation 2050,” the long-range blueprint for Douglas County’s transportation system has also been approved by the Lawrence City Commission and the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission.

• In a work session, heard about a gap analysis report conducted by the Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition. The report deals with collaborative approaches to funding and planning services related to homelessness.