On May 1, the Todd County Extension staff began operating from the new County Extension Office in Elkton, KY.  Construction had begun in June of 2022 and was substantially complete in April of 2023.  The building contains 6,236 square feet of interior space, with a 2,013 square foot meeting room, a conference room, demonstration kitchen, soil test room, break room, 4 offices, staff assistant reception/work area, several storage rooms, and restrooms.  The parking lot will accommodate 100 vehicles.

This project began 9 years ago with the purchase of a 6.34-acre lot on the southeast corner of the intersection of US Highway 68/KY 80 and Pond River Road in Elkton.  Site development work was done in 2021, creating construction-ready sites for two buildings (the new office building and a future pavilion), the parking lot, and an outdoor livestock/horse arena.

Making the new Extension Office Building a reality required much work on the part of the Extension staff and Extension leadership (especially the Extension District Board).  Obtaining financing was our biggest challenge, due to our current limited tax income.  Modifications had to be made to the original building design to get the cost down to where the Extension District could cash flow the project.  Due to the hard work and determination of our leadership, the project was completed, and our new Office is a reality.  

The total cost for the project (excluding furniture) was over $2.6 million, with the lot development totaling almost $260,000, excluding architect fees.  The building itself cost $2.36 million including the parking lot.

As the designated “owner’s representative” on both the site preparation contract and building construction contract, I served as the liaison between the Extension staff/leadership and the architect and between the Extension staff/leadership and the site preparation and building construction contractors.  Serving in this roll required at least 600 to 700 hours of my time during the earth-moving and building construction phases of this project.  Part of this effort involved helping resolve questions between the architect and the contractor; but a major responsibility was monitoring the project’s progress and problems as they developed, and sharing that information in a meaningful way with my co-workers and Extension leadership.