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Steve Davis, project manager, left, looks over the sign for the new Raleigh County Sheriff's Office under construction with Raleigh County Sheriff Scott Van Meter. Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald

Steve Davis, project manager, in front of the conference room of the new Raleigh County Sheriff's Office. They are having problems completing the room because of a delay in getting the glass walls. Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald

Steve Davis, project manager, left, looks over the floor plans of the new Raleigh County Sheriff's Office under construction with Raleigh County Sheriff Scott Van Meter. Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald

Hunter Rice, left, and Joseph Kirk, with K.W. Electric, hang lights in the gym of the new Raleigh County Sheriff's Office under construction with Raleigh County Sheriff Scott Van Meter. Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald

A construction crew works on the back building of the new Raleigh County Sheriff's Office. Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald

Raleigh County Sheriff Scott Van Meter in the locker room of the new Raleigh County Sheriff's Office under construction. Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald

A construction crew works on the employee parking lot of the new Raleigh County Sheriff's Office. Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald

Steve Davis, project manager, left, looks over the sign for the new Raleigh County Sheriff's Office under construction with Raleigh County Sheriff Scott Van Meter. Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald

Steve Davis, project manager, in front of the conference room of the new Raleigh County Sheriff's Office. They are having problems completing the room because of a delay in getting the glass walls. Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald

Steve Davis, project manager, left, looks over the floor plans of the new Raleigh County Sheriff's Office under construction with Raleigh County Sheriff Scott Van Meter. Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald

Hunter Rice, left, and Joseph Kirk, with K.W. Electric, hang lights in the gym of the new Raleigh County Sheriff's Office under construction with Raleigh County Sheriff Scott Van Meter. Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald

A construction crew works on the back building of the new Raleigh County Sheriff's Office. Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald

Raleigh County Sheriff Scott Van Meter in the locker room of the new Raleigh County Sheriff's Office under construction. Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald

A construction crew works on the employee parking lot of the new Raleigh County Sheriff's Office. Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald

The new headquarters for the Raleigh County Sheriff’s Office is nearly complete, but delays in obtaining key materials are holding up completion.

Steve Davis, the project manager for the new building, said the 27,000-square-foot structure, located in Pinecrest Industrial Park, is roughly 85 percent finished.

But, he added, some of the final building stages have been put on hold as they wait for materials to arrive.

The most important item on the material list is a main distribution panel, which is needed to supply electricity to the building.

“I think the majority of the building could be done within 30 days, but we’re waiting on certain things,” Davis said.

Davis and Raleigh County Sheriff Scott Van Meter escorted The Register-Herald on a tour of the new sheriff’s headquarters Thursday afternoon.

While standing in a large open room off the main entrance, which will hold the majority of officers’ workstations, Davis pointed out that this was one of the areas where progress has been paused due to lack of materials.

“We can’t put the flooring in here until we add the heating and air conditioning,” he said. “We can't turn the heating and air conditioning on till we get that (distribution) box so we can get the power. It's just a domino effect on certain things.”

Davis said the flooring they’re using for the officers’ workstations is called polished concrete, which is more durable than the tile flooring that’s been installed elsewhere in the building.

“What they do is they grind (the concrete floor) and then put seven coats of treatment on it and it's really durable,” Davis said.

In an area which will see a great deal of foot traffic from officers’ heavy boots, Davis said this type of flooring will wear better in the long run.

In walking through the rest of the facility, Van Meter pointed out all the new components the new building will be able to offer his officers.

Having long since outgrown their current office on South Eisenhower Drive, Van Meter said all officers will have their own desk, something that is not possible in their current location. The majority of the desks will be located in the large open workspace area.

Separate offices for ranking officers have also been constructed.

He said his officers will now have spacious locker rooms complete with a sauna in both the men’s and women’s side.

There will also be a gym and “mat room,” as Van Meter called it, which will be used for self-defense tactics.

The new offices also have a built-in kennel for Raleigh County’s K-9 officers.

In the front of the building near the main entrance is a large room which Van Meter said will be used for press conferences or large training events. Designs for the room show several rows of tables and chairs, much like a classroom.

Offices for ranking officers as well as the sheriff are located down a long hallway just after the main entrance.

This particular hallway will also have interview rooms, which will be hooked up to record video and audio. At their current building, Van Meter said they have only one interview room that is set up for video and audio.

In the center of the offices will be a conference room, which will be surrounded by glass wall panels.

At the moment, it’s hard to picture what this space will look like as they’re still waiting on those glass wall panels for the conference room, Davis said.

He added that glass windows are another item that’s hard to get right now.

Davis said he’s been told that the reason for the delay on the glass windows is that the resin U.S. manufacturers use to make them comes out of China and that resin is currently in short supply.

Other areas throughout the building which are also missing glass windows have been covered with plywood as crews wait for more materials to be shipped.

While conducting the tour, Davis pointed out that the majority of workers were outside working on landscaping because of all the delays with interior materials.

“If they wanted to all come inside and work, they could finish this in a week, but right now where the weather's good and we're waiting on other things, they want to do all the landscaping and everything they can out there,” he said.

Paving for the parking area in front of the building is expected to take place Monday, Davis said.

Originally, Davis said building was expected to be completed by mid-July.

During a Raleigh County Commission meeting last week, Davis said the new completion date is Oct. 17.

However, he told The Register-Herald on Thursday that’s he unsure if they’ll be able to stick to that one as well.

“Every construction project I know of is way behind because you just can’t get certain things,” he said.

With a completion date now up in the air, Van Meter said he may not get the opportunity to serve as sheriff out of the new headquarters he helped design.

Van Meter is running unopposed for Raleigh County clerk in the November general election. If elected, he will begin his new position in January.

Whether or not the building is completed by then, Van Meter said, “I’m going to sit in there before I leave at least once,” while pointing to the room which will be the sheriff’s office.

Construction of the new sheriff’s headquarters is being completed by local company Radford and Radford for $9 million. Davis said that price was locked in by the Raleigh County Commission prior to the inflation caused by Covid.

Had they not, Davis said the project could have easily cost them another $3-4 million.

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