Delays in the construction of the $120 million Douglas County Juvenile Justice Center, as well as improvements related to air quality standards following the pandemic, appear to have resulted in a higher price tag.

The Douglas County Board of Commissioners will consider a proposal Tuesday morning to add $10 million to the project, which has faced legal challenges and efforts to prevent its progress.

The ultimate fate of the addition to the 108-year-old courthouse complex remains in limbo after two of its proponents – Clare Duda and Marc Kraft – depart the board after Tuesday’s meeting.

Duda said the challenges, delays and other obstacles have made the Juvenile Justice Center a “project from hell,” and he said he would have approached things differently if he could do it again – but Duda stressed that’s not an option and argued the project need to proceed forward now.

“This project has been hindered from the get-go,” he said. “This project has languished for a couple of years, and now we’re finally able to make it happen.” Duda said the additional funding would come from the county general fund, not from COVID-19 relief funds from the federal government. Duda did say that those CARES Act dollars left the county with money in its “artificially high” cash reserves, so the county has the $10 million available.

Asked about the timing of the funding request at a news conference Friday, Duda said the board could change course once the new commissioners are seated. He said it would be “stupid” to unwind such a fully funded project.

Kraft said in a video message that the project is the most important of his political career.

“Now we have to add some additional money to make sure that the building is built to the current standards and to the highest degree of standards,” Kraft said.

Bruce Carpenter, design principal of HDR, said there’s been a 20 month delay in the project.

“The saying that ‘time is money’ is real,” he said. “When you’re talking about a $120 million project, those delays have significant impacts to a project.”

Carpenter said that a conservative estimate of the cost increase from delays would be about 6%, or at least $7.1 million.

Paul Cohen, administrator of the Omaha Douglas Public Building Commission, said the design of the project needs updating to the latest quality standards for air handling – a priority in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The cost would be about $3.3 million.

“These upgrades are absolutely required,” Cohen said.

The offices of the County Attorney and Public Defender have been asked to move around and have had their attorneys separated into different spaces. Add space with the Juvenile Justice Center project would allow the offices to have the room they’ve sought for years while freeing up space that could eventually become courtrooms as the county grows.

“We’re really excited about this new annex. It’s a long time coming,” Chief Deputy County Attorney Brenda Beadle said.

Public Defender Tom Reilly said moving his offices out of the courthouse is the right move.

“This county isn’t getting any smaller,” Reilly said. “There is going to be more and more courtrooms in the old courthouse.”