By Kelly Morgan,Staff Writer

SOUTH PARIS – Renovations to the old Oxford County Jail could be completed by late July, according to the architectural firm overseeing the work.

“Construction is under way. It started about a month ago,” said Ted Vedock, a project manager for Smith Reuter Lull Architects of Lewiston and Bethel. The target completion date is July 20.

Bars from the old jail cells have been removed. That space is being converted into offices and new meeting chambers for the Oxford County commissioners, Vedock said.

At a Feb. 15 meeting, the commissioners selected Mainland Structures Inc. of Gorham. to do the construction, approving a bid of $249,375.

A month later, the commissioners signed a $21,549 contract with the architectural firm, which has designed the new office and meeting space.

Once the renovation is complete, said the Administrative Assistant Carole Mahoney, work will begin to convert the old meeting area and offices into the Oxford County Probate Court. New plans will be made and a new bidding process will take place before that work begins, Mahoney said.

In December, Commissioner Steve Merrill commented that the probate court will benefit from the move into a new space.

As baby boomers continue to age, he said, he didn’t “see the Probate Court getting anything but busier in the next few years.”