Buchanan County plans 18-month project to expand Juvenile Justice Center

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- A plan to expand Buchanan County's Juvenile Justice Center is heating up as county officials prepare to select a construction manager to oversee the expected 18-month-long project.

Commissioners and county officials gathered this past week to review qualifications and narrow down a list of potential construction at-risk managers (CMAR) that would oversee the roughly 10,500-square-foot expansion project. The project would quadruple the number of beds from six to 24 as a result.

“It's over the last couple of months that we really just started firing on four cylinders on this," Buchanan County Presiding Commissioner Scott Nelson said. "We're serious. Then they (Goldberg Architect) got on the preliminary design very quickly in the county business world.”

Construction is expected to take 18 months to complete and will be budgeted across three different fiscal years -- which run from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31 -- meaning shovels could break ground this year and finish in the early part of 2027 if all goes accordingly.

"I don't see it as a difficult project, I really don't. It's a cut-and-dry project of what needs to be done," Western District Commissioner Ron Hook said.

While no official decisions on the CMAR are expected to be made for another 30 to 60 days, commissioners were supportive of using a local company after mulling the list of options last week, weighing factors including familiarity with the county and previous experience as a CMAR, a popular but slightly different project method.

As part of the process, the CMAR will be hired by the owner (Buchanan County) to act as the primary project manager. The CMAR will coordinate with Goldberg Group Architects to develop a finalized construction plan that fits within the county's set price using initial preliminary designs.

“Once they have (designs) … then that design will go out to construction companies through our construction manager. And then that's when the bid process starts," Nelson said. “A lot of it will be done upfront. And then that construction manager at risk will be the paperwork, looking over (the subcontractors) and things like that."

While final costs won't be determined until the CMAR and GGA develop the plan, the county has established a $9.5 million budget to work with for the CMAR, who will then hire and oversee subcontractors to carry out construction.

“We're using money that we receive already, whether it's through the general fund, whether it's through real estate interest, that sort of thing,” Nelson said. “It only made sense with three budget cycles for sure.”

By choosing the CMAR process, the county guarantees a level of cost certainty and fosters creativity by allowing the expertise of both the construction manager and design team to coordinate and create a sound and cost-effective plan.

“Because we're the payers here. If it’s over (budget), then we say, 'OK … we’ve got to cut something to try to get to our number. Maybe we have to do that. Maybe we don't," Nelson said. "We want to be able to work within our means."