Colorado committee rejects extra $8.1 million for prison fire-protection project after cost estimate jumps

The Colorado Capitol Development Committee voted 6-0 Monday to reject the Department of Corrections’ request for an additional $8,144,044 for a fire protection replacement project at the Denver Reception and Diagnostic Center, after lawmakers questioned why the project cost had grown from about $14 million to more than $22 million.

Corrections officials told the committee the prison complex is on 24/7 fire watch because its fire suppression system is not working, and said the supplemental money was needed to bid and complete the project. But committee members said the size of the increase and the estimating process behind it were not persuasive enough to approve the request.

The project was funded last year at $14,265,654 in the 2025 capital-construction act, after legislative staff reduced the department’s original FY 2025-26 request from $21.33 million as a technical correction to a calculation error. In this year’s supplemental hearing, Corrections said the latest estimate had climbed to roughly $22.1 million, prompting the request for another $8.1 million.

Department staff told the committee the increase reflected additional building-code requirements, requirements from the fire-response authority having jurisdiction, a stronger construction market and a more detailed estimate prepared by a new consultant. Officials said an earlier study had pointed to a much lower number, but a later statement of probable cost came in above $17 million before contingency and other additions pushed the total higher.

The underlying need for the project was already documented in the department’s original capital request, which said the Denver Reception and Diagnostic Center’s fire alarm and suppression systems date to the prison’s construction about 33 years ago. That request said national fire-protection guidance recommends replacing fire alarm systems every 10 to 15 years, and that staff were already conducting 24/7 fire watch operations because of the system’s condition.

Committee members acknowledged that rejecting the request could mean further delay for a life-safety project affecting staff and incarcerated people. But several said the state should not approve a major increase without a clearer explanation of why the estimate changed so sharply. In the meeting recording, Vice Chair Rep. Shannon Bird said, “Not today, not without more information,” while Chair Sen. Jeff Bridges said he would vote no because of both the amount and the process.