Local
Leggett wants new Rockville jail, council chief calls too pricey
By: Kathleen Miller
Examiner Staff Writer
January 5, 2009
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| Ike Leggett’s spokesman Patrick Lacefield says council members are being short-sighted. Renovating the old facility, he says, will ultimately be just as expensive as building a new one. (Examiner File) |
Art Wallenstein, the county’s director of corrections and rehabilitation, says the 200-bed facility on Seven Locks Road in Rockville has a host of problems: The roof leaks, the electrical wiring is shot, the plumbing, heating and air conditioning systems don’t function properly and security systems “do not meet current standards.”
“The entire facility needs renovation, it is 50 years old and worn,” Wallenstein said.
Plans to improve the facility, first reported in the Gazette, also include giving the public access to district court hearings, and creating a safer environment for the transfer of prisoners to the detention center.
“When squad cars arrive, the prisoners are offloaded right on the public street,” Wallenstein said. “People could be hiding in the bushes with a gun. It’s dangerous, very dangerous both for the police and the local community.”
Council members say they see the need to upgrade the detention center, where prisoners are held for 72 hours before being transferred to the county’s jail in Clarksburg, but they don’t think the county can afford to pay as much as $25 million more in upfront costs when there is a $450 million budget shortfall.
“We’ve already paid for the design of a renovated facility, sure a new building would be nicer, but we’re short on money and it’s expensive,” Council President Phil Andrews said. “You can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”
Leggett’s spokesman Patrick Lacefield says council members are being short-sighted. Renovating the old facility, he says, will ultimately be just as expensive as building a new one, since the county will spend millions on maintenance issues associated with the old building.
“We’re looking beyond the immediate and we think this is the best deal for county taxpayers,” Lacefield said. “Our feeling is, and the consultant report we commissioned backs us up, is that building a new facility is the most cost-effective item.”
Public safety concerns would be addressed in either plan, but Wallenstein supports Leggett’s desire to build a new facility.
“These are not apples and apples,” he said. “There will be continuing deterioration of the existing plant, renovated or not.”
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- Leggett wants new Rockville jail, council chief calls too pricey
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