Carroll's long-term drug treatment center, set for state-owned property at Springfield Hospital Center in Sykesville, will be larger and costlier than originally proposed.

The county expects the total cost of the project to be about $3.6 million for a 26-bed residential center that would provide treatment to teen-age and young adult substance abusers for as long as two years.

County officials, who have praised the publicly funded residential treatment center as the first of its kind in the state, rejected a vacant hospital building for the facility before settling on property that adjoins Springfield along Route 32 and planned to construct a building.

"We have found there will still be an almost 50-50 split for the cost, with the county's share being $1.8 million," Tom Rio, chief of the Carroll bureau of building construction, told the county commissioners yesterday.

Steven Powell, Carroll's director of management and budget, said the county has set aside money for the project, but that the state could not be counted on for its share. State officials will set spending priorities in the fall.

"The state has about $6 million in all for these type projects across the area," Powell said. "We need to be ranked high to qualify. We have to try to develop support for this project, which is the only one of its kind in the state."

Priority for beds in the center will be given to Carroll residents ages 18 to 25, but the facility would serve a broader area as space becomes available. Construction could begin by spring.

The state has insisted on revising plans, which called for a 10,000-square-foot building, to allow for an additional 5,000 square feet. The county also must expand the kitchen and mechanical systems. Carroll officials said yesterday they were amenable to the changes.