These days, construction on Crook County’s new justice center is hard to miss.
About two weeks ago, the project, situated between West First and Northwest Second Street and Northwest Beaver and Claypool Street, finally went vertical — in a big way. That was when workers with Corona Steel, Inc. started building the steel frame for the three-story structure.
It has become common to see a large boom crane lifting large, orange beams into place. And passersby should expect that to continue for another month.
“They will be finished with that steel work in mid-April,” said Crook County Commissioner Brian Barney, who is overseeing the project.
Crook County voters approved a $35 million bond measure in November 2020 that paved the way for construction of justice center, which will house the circuit court system and the district attorney’s office, both of which are currently located in the Crook County Courthouse.
The building, like the courthouse, will stand three stories tall but its 68,680 square feet will nearly triple the approximately 23,000 square feet of space currently available for criminal justice services.
Each floor will feature a courtroom of at least 10,000 square feet in size. The first floor will house the Crook County Sheriff’s Office and the County Juvenile Department. The District Attorney’s Office and Victim’s Advocate office will occupy the second floor and public defense will be housed on the third floor.
Barney said the project is still on budget, but because of challenges obtaining certain supplies, will likely take a couple months longer than initially projected. Finding generators, electrical cans and switching gear is extremely hard right now, he said.
“That may set us back,” Barney added. “We have a tentative new date of around mid-April (2024). Our original date was February.”
Once the steel work concludes, work will turn to pouring concrete for each of the upper floors of the building. In addition, people can expect to see some roofing work start in May.
“We are going to start framing (the interior) once the steel is done,” Barney added.
Overall, Barney and other county leaders are pleased with the project’s progress and are eager to see the finished product.
