Consultants recently told Vanderburgh County officials that their jail needs 750 more beds. Now, county officials have been presented preliminary designs for the expansion.
The drawings presented to county commissioners Tuesday show three new housing pods and renovations to the jail’s existing floorplan.
Representatives of American StructurePoint told commissioners that the new design makes it easier for the jail staff to sort inmates by things like gender, security level, and medical needs.
The consultants met with the sheriff’s department before presenting the designs. Sheriff Dave Wedding says he’s pleased with how they turned out, but there’s still more to be done.
"We probably have to continue to look at the design," Wedding says. "We have to look at the cost associated with the new build. We have to look at the anticipated need of inmates today and then inmates five years from now, ten years from now.”
There's still no word about the project's estimated costs. There are tentative plans to present those to county commissioners early next month.
From there, the matter will go before county council, where discussion came to a halt last year over concerns about the cost.
View the slideshow presentation given to commissioners Tuesday:
