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Tuesday, February 12, 2002

Architects exhibited a concept design for a new three-floor, 11,000 square-foot judicial center to county officials Monday. The scheme, consisting of current Law Enforcement Center remodeling and an additional structure to the south vacating Pearl Street and the Western Grocery Building, focuses on security and efficiency.

Construction could start as early as October this year. Planners have yet to produce a cost estimate.

&uot;The basic concept of the facility is to separate the public area from the law enforcement and court operational areas,&uot; J. Owen Boarman of BKV Group said.

The jail on the lower level would be completely insulated from the public. Visitors would use a video monitor device located on the first floor to talk with inmates. Work-release inmates would have a separate entrance on the lower level.

Courtrooms on the second floor would be next to a secured holding area that is connected to the jails through special elevators. Inmates can appear in front of a judge with minimum exposure to the juries, witnesses and county employees.

The sheriff’s office and the city police would be housed on the first floor, facing a main entrance and lobby.

For the jail, the architects proposed a pod-style design to maximize staff efficiency.

Detention areas would surround two control stations from which fewer jailers could oversee the situation of each detention area at a glance.

Maximum and medium security areas would have two stories and a mezzanine. Each higher security zone, consisting of eight cells on both floors and a common dayroom space, would have direct access to a recreation room and program room so that the inmates can be in a controlled environment all the time.

A four-foot wide corridor surrounding the higher security zones would provide an outer wall. Windows in the cells would not have a direct access to the outside. The corridor furnishes utility pipes, so that most of the maintenance work for the cells can be done without going into the secured zone.

&uot;This would be one of the most efficient jails in the state,&uot; said Ted E. Redmond of BKV Group. &uot;It would be ranked in the top 5 to 10 percent in terms of staff efficiency.&uot;

The jail is designed for 117 beds. But Redmond said it could be expanded up to 152 beds without any structural increment by installing additional bunks. The current jail has only 38 beds.

The project involves 80,000 square feet of new construction and renovation of 30,000 square feet of the current Law Enforcement Center. Some other county offices would occupy a part of the remodeled area.

An original new courthouse plan, designed by BKV Group in 1997, to vacate the current north-wing courthouse building and construct a new structure on the parking lot to the east, was revised. This is because the removal of the court and attorney’s office from the existing courthouse will provide sufficient space for other county offices to move in.

But Boarman emphasized the scheme he presented has flexibility for future expansion, including the building addition in the eastside parking lot. The courtrooms can also be added by putting another floor on the top of the new facility, and the jail can be doubled if the county would acquire the land further to the south, currently used by Alliant Energy, Boarman said.

Boarman also exhibited a model timeline for the whole project. The construction of the new facility would be scheduled for mid-October. The demolition of the Western Grocery Building would start at the beginning of April, and the closure of Pearl Street would finish prior to it.

Commissioner Glen Mathiason expressed some concerns about the cost, considering a forecasted decreasing population in the county.

But, Court Services Director Tom Jensen pointed out what matters is the number of criminal cases and the type of crimes, not the raw population number.

&uot;Putting a dollar value to the people’s safety is difficult,&uot; said Sheriff Don Nolander. But he insisted that the new facility should have enough room to accommodate all of those who are supposed to be behind bars. Currently, the jail should have over 120 inmates in it, the majority of whom are waiting to serve time, Nolander said.

The county officials agreed to meet on Feb. 25, where BKV Group will come up with exterior drawings and cost estimates.

They also decided to have a tour to visit some newly constructed judicial facilities on Feb. 28, including LaCrosse, Wis., and Story County, Iowa.