HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) - Nearly four months ago, construction crews and county officials broke ground for the new Adams County Jail. Since then, quite a bit of progress has been made.

The jail is under construction on West M Street off of Highway 281.

So far, the underground utilities, footings and precast concrete walls have all been installed.

They’re in the process of putting in the roof, and plumbing and electrical work are underway.

Job Site Superintendent Hon Chase, with Beckenhauer Construction told Local4 News the project had been moving along as scheduled.

“We’re looking to have this project finished on time as well as really good quality, everything’s lined out really well, we haven’t missed anything big, so far, so good. As the structure keeps going up, everything fitting really nice,” Chase said.

There have been a few minor setbacks though. Chase said they encountered difficulties to procure some building materials and were dealing with the high prices of fuel.

Acquiring materials has been an ongoing issue for the project — even before dirt started moving at the construction site.

The original project was set to be a justice center, including courtrooms and more.

Lee Hogan, chairman for the Adams County Board of Commissioners said, the price listed on that ballot was $38 million, which was only enough to cover the costs of building a jail.

“We’ve had issues with that because of the building costs going up and then the availability of things and, it’s been a chore to make it work right and… we’re in good shape,” Hogan noted.

Before he project began, Adams County had spent more than $2 million in housing inmates elsewhere, due to lack of space at their current jail.

The new facility is meant to relieve that burden by offering up 152 beds to inmates.

Construction crews are aiming to finish up work on the outside of the building before the cold weather moves back into the forecast.

“That’s the goal, get the exterior envelope done with the roof, windows and everything completed before this winter and then move on forward with the jail cells, the office space,” Chase said.

Chase and Hogan said they hoped to have the building completely done around this time next year. Once the new jail is officially up and running, Hogan said it will be a great day for Adams County.

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