Stearns County Commissioners Looking at Early April Public Hearing for Justice Center

(KNSI) – The Stearns County Board of Commissioners got its first look at new designs for the justice center at Tuesday’s meeting.

Facilities manager Kevin Korneck explained that department staff is devoting almost half its time to moving the project along through the design development phase. “Design Development is where we really get into the weeds on, ‘how does this door function?’ and ‘where do we put cabinets?’ and those kinds of very detailed type conversations. And, as you can imagine, on this project, there’s a lot of all of that stuff. So our team’s been in all-day meetings, generally, twice a week.”

Korneck stressed it is all hands on deck. He is pulling from everywhere. “We’ve added some staff to our project. Furniture, fixtures is probably the biggest one, and Erin Hughes, our emergency management director, has agreed to help me out with that. That’s a huge undertaking, just in and of itself, if you think how many tables and chairs and refrigerators and microwaves, and all of that stuff that goes into this building.”

Chelle Benson from Environmental Services is the point person for wayfinding, which determines exterior and interior signage for the facility. The justice center will have a tower for courts and legal staff and a connecting wing housing the jail.

A cost estimate update is due on March 28th, and a work session is scheduled for April 8th, during which the board will approve construction documents. Commissioners are looking to set a public hearing in the first week of April to allow for input on the project.

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