LENEXA, Kan. — The city of Lenexa is one step closer to breaking ground on a new justice center.

Tuesday, the Lenexa City Council approved an agreement with J.E. Dunn Construction Company to build a new justice center roughly four miles west of the existing public safety complex. The council also approved a resolution to amend the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) to increase overall funding for the project from $65 million to $73 million.

City leaders attribute the increased project cost to the rising cost of construction materials brought on by the pandemic. 

In July, the city approved a contract with Finkle-Williams Inc. to design the Lenexa Justice Center to be built at the southwest corner of Prairie Star Parkway and Britton Street. 

The 117,785 square-foot facility will house municipal courts, the Lenexa Police Department, dispatch and offer additional space for police training.

Once the project is complete, the Lenexa Police Department and municipal court will move from its current location at West 87th Street and Monrovia to the new justice center. 

Construction on the new justice center is expected to begin in the fall of 2022. The building is anticipated to be operational by early 2024. Day-to-day operations will continue out of the existing public safety complex until the new justice center is complete.