COLUMBUS-Polk County’s new jail is taking shape as construction is expected to be complete within the next two months.

The Polk County Board of Commissioners met Nov. 20 and heard from Paul Luzier with Moseley Architects.

Luzier said there’s been a lot of work done over the last four weeks and the outside of the project is coming along.

“Over the next 8-10 weeks, you’ll see a lot of progress being made,” Luzier told commissioners.

He said the walls are starting to get prime and dry wall. There is currently temporary heat inside the building and half of the jail cells are on site.

“It’s kind of an exciting time right now and a very busy time,” Luzier said.

Commissioner Ray Gasperson asked about the paving, given we are in the winter months. He asked if Cooper Construction is in charge of doing the paving and what happens once we get into cold weather.

Luzier said there are certain temperatures required within a certain number of hours in order to do the paving.

“Cooper (Construction) is pushing to get their paving done in the next couple weeks,” said Luzier. “They were pouring curb and gutter today.”

Construction of the new jail, located adjacent to Milliken off Hwy. 108 in the Columbus Township was originally scheduled to be complete this month but has been delayed approximately a month because of weather delays, until January 2018.

Construction began in December 2016.

Polk County received a $13.5 million loan to construct the new law enforcement center, which will include a new jail and sheriff’s office.

The new jail will be a 60-bed facility, compared to the current jail, constructed in the 1970s, which is a 25-bed facility.

The county purchased 19.19 acres of property adjacent to the Milliken plant just outside Columbus Town Limits for $1,950,000 and another 2.6 acres off Park Street for $125,000 for a total land purchase price of $2,075,000 to construct the new law enforcement center. The purchase price included site preparation for the new law enforcement center. Some of the property was purchased for future needs, such as a new courthouse and possible administrative offices.

The construction bid to hire Cooper Construction was $9,603,350.