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SALT LAKE CITY — The $650 million price tag for the new state prison being built west of the Salt Lake City International Airport continues to climb, with escalating costs possibly bringing the bottom line closer to $800 million.

"There was no surprise. Everybody can see what’s happening in the market," Marilee Richins, state Department of Administrative Services deputy director, told reporters Friday during an update on the massive project.

Richins said while there's been "some great progress" on the facility due to be completed by the end of 2021, construction expenses have already been 18-22 percent higher than anticipated.

She declined to estimate what the final price to taxpayers could end up being, but with only half of the contracts for the prison in place, a similar escalation could boost the cost by up to $143 million.

No additional money was sought during the 2019 Legislature, and Richins said there's enough cash flow to continue work. She said about $210 million has been encumbered out of $361 million currently available.

Bonds that have been authorized but not yet issued could help make up the difference, Richins said.

Utah's strong economy has helped make the prison more expensive, she said, along with other big projects including the new multibillion-dollar airport under construction.

There have been about $118 million in savings over initial estimates, she said, such as $8.5 million cut by reducing the size of the facility. Now, the new prison will have 3,600 beds rather than the 4,000 at the Utah State Prison in Draper.

Design changes that mean only elements of the new prison are considered state-of-the-art have also been made, Richins said, as part of an effort to comply with what she called both pressure and encouragement from Gov. Gary Herbert to cut costs.

"There’s concern of course," the deputy director of the agency overseeing prison construction said. "We received very strong instructions to continue to find savings. In no means are they saying, 'Doggone it, we understand.'"

Moving the Utah State Prison from the Point of the Mountain site to free up the property along the state's high-tech corridor known as Silicon Slopes for development has always been controversial.

Lawmakers selected the Salt Lake City site over locations in Utah and Tooele counties, but has required significant soil mitigation to ensure the land near the Great Salt Lake was compacted enough to hold the weight of the new prison.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story stated the date of completion for the new state prison to be 2020. This article has been corrected to state the date of the new state prison facility due to be completed by the end of 2021.



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