County must build justice center right

The Gresham Outlook, Jul 9, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

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It’s more than frustrating that after years of discussion and months of property negotiations, the East Multnomah County justice center must once again be delayed for further study.

However, there really is no alternative at this point but to follow Multnomah County Chairman Ted Wheeler’s advice and “hit the reset button” on a project that ought to have been completed by now.

In suggesting that more clarity is needed on the scope and cost of the justice center, Wheeler says he is in no way backing off from his promise to East County to build such a center. The need for this facility is well documented. What’s less understood is the center’s skyrocketing construction costs.

Cost projections can’t be trusted

It is those rising cost estimates that have prompted Wheeler to call for a timeout and ask stakeholders in the project to reconvene. Just a few years ago, the price for the justice center, which will be built in the Rockwood area of Gresham, was pegged at around $12 million to$14 million. By April of this year, as reported in The Outlook, the projected construction cost had reached $21 million and was rising.

Last week, another round of estimates was released and they showed that the original 70,000-square-foot plan for the justice center actually would cost $32 million. The estimate was accompanied by two proposals to scale back the center – but even the smaller, dysfunctional designs offered by county officials would cost millions of dollars more than anticipated just a year ago.

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