The ongoing saga of Guilford County’s new Law Enforcement Administration Building – the Sheriff’s Office’s coming headquarters – isn’t over yet.
On Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners is expected to approve yet another change order for the long-delayed project – this time adding about $300,000 in new costs.
In February 2024, commissioners awarded Blum-WC Joint Venture a guaranteed maximum price of $26,672,433 to complete construction. That figure included a 1 percent owner contingency for unforeseen issues. Those funds have now been fully spent, and, as the building nears completion, Sheriff’s Office officials have requested the commissioners allow further upgrades.
The result is a change order being put before the commissioners Thursday night for $220,500 in additional construction costs and $73,700 for owner-supplied equipment and design work, bringing the new total to $26,966,633 – nearly $27 million.
The project has been one of the most troubled county construction efforts in modern county history. Plans for a new law enforcement headquarters date back years and years, however, progress was repeatedly delayed by redesigns, a lack of funds and disputes.
Guilford County became embroiled in a contract fight over earlier work on the initial phase of the project. In early March 2023, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to end a contract with Samet on what was then a $23.9 million project that included demolishing the old Guilford County jail in downtown Greensboro and building the new Sheriff’s Department headquarters and parking lot.
The following day, Samet Corp. sent out a detailed explanation of the company’s account of what happened. The decision by the Board of Commissioners to kill the giant contract came down to a disagreement over the process used to engage the participation of Minority- and Women-owned Business Enterprises (MWBE) in the project.
The March 3 statement from Samet said the company’s leaders were “deeply disappointed” that Guilford County government “unreasonably” terminated the contract.
The statement began: “Samet has a long-standing and deep commitment to Guilford County and to equity, inclusion, and diversity on its construction work for the County. On the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office Building project, Samet achieved over 40 percent minority and women-owned business enterprise (MWBE) participation of the total trade cost, which exceeds the 10 percent state baseline for MWBE. Of that, 15.9 percent was Black-owned enterprise participation, which exceeded participation by any other minority group.”
Samet added at that time, “The County acted improperly by instructing, after the subcontractor-bid process was completed in compliance with all laws and County policies, that Samet identify and hire additional Black-owned subcontractors outside of the bid process.”
A Samet employee who objected to the demand made a remark that by all accounts was harsh and indefensible – and Samet ended up firing that employee.
“After an internal investigation by outside counsel, Samet terminated the employment of a project employee who demonstrated their frustration with the request and openly questioned the validity of the county’s directive,” Samet wrote in its statement. “The tenor of the employee’s remarks were inconsistent with Samet’s values and commitments.”
Samet went on to describe the company’s values and successes with regard to diversity and inclusion on projects and noted in the statement that the company has been widely recognized by county leaders and business publications as a fair and equitable employer.
That dispute caused a major delay in the project, an increase in cost and allegations of unmet contract terms. The county at one point considered ending the contract entirely, but the matter was settled, and later Blum – in joint venture with WC Construction – was given the greenlight to take over the project.
Thanks to inflation, the loss of time added to the cost of the project and now, the new change order the commissioners are expected to approve this week illustrates how the price keeps creeping upward.
Requested modifications include:
Reconfiguring Internal Affairs to add a second interview room and a private transcription office ($20,000).
Installing salvaged wood paneling and light fixtures from the historic Otto Zenke building into the new headquarters ($25,000).
Modifying the lobby to fit a security scanner and deputy workstation ($20,000).
Adding roof walk pads and additional membrane for rooftop access ($30,000). (This will allow access to a planned rooftop picnic table.)
Addressing water intrusion in the tunnel with a new sump pump and drainage system ($100,000). (That tunnel runs to the courthouse in downtown Greensboro and it’s the way most inmates are taken to and from the jail to court.)
Smaller items such as a cooking range, TV mounts and office modifications ($45,500).
In addition, Guilford County will purchase a $35,000 security scanner, a $7,000 vehicle lift, a $6,700 intercom system, and the county will allocate $20,000 for new interior design work.
Officials say Blum-WC remains on pace to complete the overall project ahead of schedule, even though the new interior work is expected to delay some plans by two to five weeks.
The sump pump and rooftop changes can be done after occupancy.
When it opens, the new facility will replace the outdated Otto Zenke building – which was subject to flooding, snake infestation and uneven floors. Some also argue that the Zenke building was haunted.
The new law enforcement building will consolidate Sheriff’s Office operations in a modern headquarters; but it will also stand as a reminder as to just how costly and contentious the effort has been – with the final price now pressing toward $27 million after years of delays and disputes.
Government is the most efficient/effective entity to work with contractors.
We used to call that, ” too many chiefs and not enough indians”.
($30,000). (This will allow access to a planned rooftop picnic table.)
LOL! Will this be for the inmates or r for the deputies?
Remember Ronald Reagan “I’m from the government and I’m here to help “.
NEVER, in the history of government involvement have I seen a project finish on time and under budget.
Years ago, a new addition was made to the Emergency Services building on Meadowood Rd. to add a training room, offices, and storage. Air handling equipment was added during this construction, but after the work was finished, it was discovered that it would overheat in the summer because it was undersized for the space to be cooled. There wasn’t enough money in the budget to resize the system, so the Director of ES bought a water hose and sprinkler. He put them on the roof to run all summer, keeping the AC handler cool enough to run for years and saving taxpayers lots of money.
County misplanning never changes.
Mismanagement on the part of the Sheriffs office. During my tenure we built several projects, including a jail, major crimes building, a sub-station and numerous renovation projects. Our projects came in under budget and under time thanks to the dedicated employees we had then. This process and others have been rife with mis-steps. We need a change in leadership.
It is so easy to spend other folks money. Ask any politician or government flunky.
The people of Guilford county should be raising immortal hell. DEI has no place in construction mother f****** worried too much about including blacks and women that don’t have anything to do with getting a project built and completed on time. Rooftop picnic tables really those aren’t going to be used in the summertime at all. I’m so glad I don’t live in corrupt county anymore. Because the police department for one thing doesn’t do their job when it comes to getting illegals out of the county. F*** Guilford county and Greensboro North Carolina. Make sure there’s some good cameras in that jail so the next time you try to kill an inmate like y’all tried to kill me it gets caught on camera
Is anybody surprised? GSO was once a great city. What changed it?
Mike Haley
—-
Demographics.
Skip, DEI and all the other woke heads changed it. Add in east Greensboro city council for the topping on the pie. Your tax dollars in their and their friends pockets. Citizens, keep voting the way you do and you’ll get the same expensive snafu on the next dream boat project.
After having worked maintenance at the courthouse and old jail for over 30yrs we could not stop the tunnel from flooding during a very heavy rain, (2 to 3 times a year) . Installing a new or bigger sump pump and a bigger drain line may help a little but will not solve the issue of having as much as 10ft. of water getting in the tunnel in the first place. We observed the city storm drains backing up and overflowing during these events. This is also why the basement of the Otto Zenke would flood also. This is A major water storm drain issue that needs addressing downtown. And would cost a lot more than 100k to fix. When the heavy steel garbage dumpsters at the courthouse loading dock floated from an heavy rain and storm drains backing up we always found the tunnel going to the jail below them flooded also. And who puts a picnic table on a hot roof ? Over 100 degrees in the summer and around freezing in the winter . Are you kidding me ? People could only stand it a few months of the year. Only a looney liberal thinks like this. No common sense at all. What a waste. But Skip and the majority will rubber stamp it.
I am shocked…SHOCKED to find cost overruns (I think that’s what they’re calling them now)
“When it opens, the new facility will replace the outdated Otto Zenke building – which was subject to flooding, snake infestation and uneven floors. Some also argue that the Zenke building was haunted.”
What level of thought went into that statement? I worked for Otto Zenke in the early 80’s. Any building requires maintenance including pest control. The floors are due to age of the building. Give me a break, there are no ghosts. What a reach to justify losing a building with so much history and character.