by Evelyn Pyburn-Originally published in the print edition of Yellowstone County News.
BILLINGS — Building a new addition to the jail will be a spring project.
Bids are expected to be let in March, according to members of the design team with Schutz Foss Architects, who met last week with a group of county officials including the sheriff, county commissioners, and other department heads.
They pored over schematics as they learned that building a 148-bed addition, adding 26,433 square feet, and renovating the jail’s laundry and kitchen will cost about $15 million, depending on how bids come in. Construction will take between 14 and 16 months.
Allen Rapacz of Schutz Foss said that field work and site work have been completed. The next steps include developing the final design and firming up the numbers.
Discussion covered a broad range of design options and construction challenges.
Sheriff Mike Linder commended the Schutz Foss team, saying, “We made you half crazy read more
