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Cost for Dillon Courthouse project up $1.3 million

Posted at 1:50 PM, May 16, 2017
and last updated 2017-05-16 15:25:21-04

Mayor Byron Brown says cost increases on the project to turn the Dillon Courthouse into a new police and fire department were expected.

The City of Buffalo bought the historic Dillon Courthouse for $1 from the federal government back in November. The landmark has sat empty for years and the city plans to turn it into a public safety complex, combining police and fire headquarters.

According to Mayor Brown, the original cost of $3.5 million was never believable.

He said random costs have come up, which contributed to the $1.4 million spent on the building last year and already $500,000 this year.

"The costs that we had initially were estimated costs," said Mayor Brown. "Now that we're into the building we're able to get actual, hard costs. Some of those additional costs include more asbestos abatement than was initially estimated, a state-of-the art security system to secure the entire building, and backup generators to have backup power in the event of any loss of power."

The mayor and the comptroller have requested an additional $2.9 million to continue the project, bringing the total up to $4.8 million. When asked if the costs to the building would ever exceed $5 million, Mayor Brown says cost increases are always possible.

"We built in contingency for costs to potentially rise, so we feel comfortable with where we are financially."