Hall County Board of Commissioners discuss the courthouse addition. (Carol Bryant, Central Nebraska Today)
GRAND ISLAND — The Hall County Board of Commissioners indicated Tuesday that it wants to see if a lower cost is possible for an addition to the Hall County Courthouse.
Steve Severson, architect with Davis Design, told the commissioners that the estimated cost for the courthouse addition is $35.2 million to $45.2 million.
Commissioner Gary Quandt said he had consulted with a construction company and believes the cost can be lowered to $25 million, which he would support.
Commissioners decided to have a committee work with Davis Design and come back in two weeks with additional information about the project’s cost.
The proposed courthouse addition is 42,400 square feet.
Severson reviewed by floor the features of each floor. He said an additional floor with shell space could be included in the project. He said the project would meet the county’s needs for 10 to 20 years.
Commissioner Karen Bredthauer is concerned that the project would only meet the county’s needs for 10 to 20 years.
“Is there any way we could cut costs?” she said. “Seriously, we’ve got to get this price down.”
At that point, Commissioner Gary Quandt said, “We should be able to do something like this for $25 million.” He said he would support the project at that cost.
Board Chairman said he would like a committee to come back in two weeks with two proposals for the commissioners to consider.
