After negotiations with Randy Lovelady of CRL Construction, the county is closer to a price it can live with to renovate the Juvenile Detention Center.

Dallas County Probate Judge Kim Ballard said he met with Lovelady and others to discuss cost savings of $60,000, which would bring the construction price down to about $340,000.

“They have worked very hard to get this project in budget,” Ballard said.

That new price tag still is more than the $250,000 anticipated by the Dallas County Board of Commissioners.

“We’re still out of budget, but we don’t want to strip the building down to where it’s not functional,” Ballard told commissioners at their Monday meeting.

The probate judge said he plans to meet with Marcus Hannah, the director of the center, and discuss the changes before bringing the matter back before commissioners at their meeting in December.

The $340,000 includes a four-bed expansion and construction of a gymnasium.

“The changes do not impact the integrity of the building at all,” Ballard said.

Increases in the original plan were caused by having to raise the gym’s roof from about 10 feet to 20 feet. In the detention facility, security equipment also pushed over the price tag. It is unclear what was cut from the contract. Ballard said he had just received the changes and would make them public before commissioners met next.

County records show about six other counties bring juveniles to Dallas County to hold them. Those counties pay about $18,000 a year. Two other counties are considering using the detention facility.

The detention center opened in August 2008. Capacity of the present center is eight females and 12 males. Dallas County’s center is one of 12 juvenile detention centers in the state.