YOUNGSTOWN — The city’s board of control will vote today to again increase the cost of a contract to renovate the second floor of city hall – a project that should be finished later this month.

On the board’s agenda today is a request to increase the cost of the contract with Brock and Associates Builders of North Lima by another $32,641 to a total of $425,587. Brock’s initial bid was $380,500 and has already been increased because of changes to the project, said Charles Shasho, the city’s deputy director of public works.

Council initially approved spending up to $290,000 for the work on March 19, 2025. It was increased to $395,000 on Oct. 15. That came after Brock’s bid was opened June 13.

Council then agreed April 1 to permit the board of control to increase the cost to $425,587. That is about 47% more than the initial request last year.

The $290,000 initial request wasn’t a realistic number for the project, and the second increase was the result of additional work needed to the space, specifically plumbing and electrical improvements, Shasho said.

The work began about two months ago and should be finished by the end of this month, Shasho said.

“We’re about to do a final walkthrough, and it will be wrapped up,” he said.

The space, which is about 4,000 square feet, has been empty since the clerk of courts moved from there in 2018 to the city hall annex, 9 W. Front St., as part of the relocation of the city court system.

City officials have informally talked for years about what to do with the space before deciding in 2024 to allow the community planning and economic development department to use it.

The department’s office on the fourth floor in the former city prosecutor’s office is about half the size of the space on the second floor.

After the municipal court moved to the annex, a block away from city hall at 26 S. Phelps St., the city had work done on the former courtrooms, also located on the second floor, for the police department.

The project included some partial demolition, new finishes, drywall, improvements to the heating and cooling system, the addition of a bathroom and some individual offices.