Courthouse expansion reaches foundation stage; contractor says project is roughly on schedule and contingency rebuilt

Deschutes County project staff and the owner's representative gave the Board of Commissioners a progress and budget update on the courthouse expansion. Presenters said structural concrete is under way, tower-crane lifts are in use, and the project has completed many foundation pours and the first stair and elevator cores.

Facility and construction staff described the expansion as a three-level addition plus basement totaling about 50,933 square feet that will add two courtrooms and consolidate court administration, improve security screening and holding facilities. "The project is to expand the courthouse off of the main courthouse on the south side of the existing building. It'll be 3 levels plus a basement at about 50,933 square feet," Construction program staff said.

Contractor and owner's-rep updates said the sequencing choice to pour full-height stair and elevator cores early helped the team recover schedule and put the project about a month ahead of earlier projections. Core pours and foundation work are continuing along Greenwood and Bond streets. A geotechnical program earlier in the process included five borings to roughly 15 feet, staff said.

On budget, staff said the construction budget line in the packet is currently about $47.4 million and that actual invoice spend to date is just over $13 million; the overall project budget after a recent adjustment is about $46.8 million. Monthly reports noted that January invoices were still processing and would be shown in the next update. Presenters said owner contingency has been replenished by last month's budget adjustment and that the team is actively managing allowances (weather protection, concrete curing blankets, snow removal) and a running risk log.

They identified material-supply risk items to watch, including tariffs on steel and the cross-laminated-timber (CLT) components that will be imported from Canada for a key architectural element. Presenters said they are having ongoing discussions with subcontractors about early ordering, storage and the tradeoffs between ordering now and paying for storage versus later ordering and accepting potential price increases. "We're looking at that, doing the math. If it makes sense to get it here now and store it off-site, we'll do that," the contractor said.

Schedule highlights presented to the board include topping out of the structural frame and movement to exterior work by the end of summer, roofing and dry-in through fall and winter, interior work in the following spring, and final completion on the overall expansion and renovation targeted for August 2026. County staff said they meet weekly with construction leads to control cost-change requests and to manage the project's risk log.