There’s yet another twist in Santa Barbara County’s efforts to open a badly needed new jail complex on the Central Coast. The $110 million dollar plus Northern Branch Jail Complex in Santa Maria is now 90% complete. But, the project’s architectural firm, Rosser International, went out of business.
It notified the county it would no longer be providing services. This week, Santa Barbara County Supervisors approved a nearly $950,000 contract with Kitchell/KEM to take over the work. Kitchell was already on board the project as construction manager, but will take over Rosser’s role as well.
Some of the money originally allocated to Rosser will be shifted to Kitchell to pay for the change.
The latest plans call for the 376 bed, 136,000 square foot facility to open around the end of the year.
