Kent County kicks off north campus development

Kent County kicks off north campus development
<strong> Courtesy Kent County </strong>

Kent County broke ground on its new 30,000-square-foot North County Campus located at 4191 17 Mile Road in Cedar Springs.

Site work and structural foundation work now are underway after an Oct. 12 groundbreaking, but additional construction will pause until spring of 2022 due to global steel and other material shortages.

The Kent County Board of Commissioners voted to approve $12.5 million for the campus’ development in January 2020. Funding was allocated from the county’s capital improvement program fund, which was established to reduce debt associated with large capital projects.

The vote also included a $2.68 million parks department office and a $3.5 million fleet facility. Additional funding of $630,000 later was approved for the north campus development to address the increased cost of construction.

“It is essential that we address the needs of our growing community,” said Kent County Board Chair Mandy Bolter. “This facility will offer more efficient and accessible services to northern Kent County residents and alleviate the need for them to go (to) downtown Grand Rapids for some vital in-person services.”

The North County Campus will consist of a north substation for the sheriff’s office, health department clinic and “hoteling” space for other county services.

“This facility is a great opportunity for the county to increase access to services, improve response times by the sheriff’s office and create a more functional environment for our employees,” Bolter said. “We are completing this project without the need to issue bonds, which is a testament to the board’s commitment to wisely invest taxpayer dollars.”

The project is scheduled for completion in April 2023. Owen-Ames-Kimball Construction is the general contractor, and DLZ Michigan will provide architecture and engineering.