A renovation project that will resolve spacing issues in several Carbon County offices is expected to cost just under $4 million.

During the county commissioners meeting on Thursday, the board opened bids for six contracts related to the 44 and 76 Susquehanna St. buildings renovations.

The project will include renovating the former archives building, as well as several areas in the 76 Susquehanna St. building to shift around offices that need more space.

Four of the six contracts had several bidders.

The lowest bidders in each contract are: Uhrig Construction Inc. of Reading, which bid $2,395,000 for general construction; JBM Mechanical Inc. of Nazareth, $333,000 for plumbing; Leibold Inc. of Pottsville, $499,500 for mechanical; North End Electric of Scranton, $526,790 for electrical; Anchor Fire Protection Co. Inc. of Perkiomenville, $63,600 for fire protection; and CMG of Easton Inc. of Easton, $128,000 for elevator construction.

Bids were then tabled for one week so they could be reviewed. Bids will either be awarded or rejected at next week’s commissioners meeting.

In June, the commissioners unveiled an updated renovation project on the former archives and 76 buildings.

Commissioner Rocky Ahner said at that time that the goal is to “allow for growth, save tax dollars, make access for the public and employees user friendly and fit the architecture of Jim Thorpe.”

The 44 Building will have the partial second floor removed and a full height second floor will be added to create a two-story building on the original building footprint. This building will house the departments of Elections, Planning and Workforce that is currently at 76 Susquehanna.

With this move, the 76 Building will be renovated to accommodate adult probation, Veterans Affairs and juvenile probation on the first floor with children & youth and domestic relations staying on the second floor.

The projected time of completion should be around August 2021, so elections could be operating and preparing for the November general election.

In the meantime, the commissioners signed a lease agreement with Jim Thorpe School District to rent space in the district’s administration building at 410 Center Ave. in Jim Thorpe, effective Oct. 1 through June 30, 2021, at a cost of $31,658.20 for the nine months. Several county offices will be relocated to the administration building during the construction.

In 2018, the prior board of commissioners planned to construct a 66,279-square-foot office building with an associated 110-space parking garage along Susquehanna Street to alleviate the crowded courthouse, providing new space for several departments, as well as creating a fourth courtroom for the potential of an additional judge down the road.

But many residents, business owners and St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, which sits right above the proposed site, called for the project to be halted, even filing an injunction against Jim Thorpe Borough for its project approval. The reason for the uprising was the potential of damaging the historic St. Mark’s and St. John’s Episcopal Church, which has original Tiffany stained-glass windows.

The project was then shelved last year.