ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) --The Allen County Commissioners Friday approved to proceed with the construction of a new $300 million, 1,500 bed jail on Meyer Road, that officials say is $18 million under budget and will be completed in November 2027. Commissioners Richard Beck, Therese Brown and Nelson Peters have been the main characters in a bid to satisfy the orders of federal judge Damon R. Leichty who sided with inmates in a January 2020 federal filing that the existing downtown jail is inhumane, primarily due to understaffing and being chronically overcrowded. The shovels will go in Oct. 14, a month after the Indiana Tax Court sided with the Indiana Department of Government Local Finance, that the downtown Allen County Courthouse could be used as collateral as the project unfolded. Opponents who filed a case against the jail have indicated through the local media that they will not appeal the decision. The project will be built under a CMC, designated as Weigand Constructions, according to Chris Cloud, the Commissioner's chief of staff, which means that Weigand, one of two main large construction firms in the county, will choose subcontractors in a bidding process. Construction will start with $24 million cash on hand that the Allen County Council set aside for the project., part of a $45 million package that include a LIT, local income tax allowed under state law. The upfront money will give the county time to arrange for bonding for the rest of the project, Cloud said. Phases 1-4 will cost $234 million, a Weigand representative told the commissioners Friday. Tacked on is Phase 5 that will allow for a 5th pod the Allen County Sheriff has asked for in order to provide the modern jail with a medical health unit. and to ensure the continuation of the successful JCAP program, among other things,Cloud said. The total for the five phases is about $266 million with another $30 million of soft costs that would include architectural fees that brings the total to just over $300 million, Cloud said. Cloud indicated that other big construction projects currently in game, including the Google data center on Paulding Road and the new IU Health hospital at I-69 and Lower Huntington Road, could have been a challenging factor in construction, but during the legal challenges to a new jail, Weigand was consolidating the process and holding meetings for potential bidders. That list of subcontractors is due to be published. Look for more on this story today.