Jail construction remains on track
By Steve Herring
Published in News on March 14, 2016 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Facilities Director Kendall Lee talks about some of the features the Carey A. Winders Detention Center will have while standing in the observation area between two of the dormitory style holding areas Friday.
The $10 million Carey A. Winders Detention Center remains on track to begin housing inmates in October despite the recent spate of heavy rains.
Located on county-owned property on North William Street, the 38,500-square-foot, single-story, 218-bed jail designed by Moseley Architects of Raleigh is being built by Daniels and Daniels Construction Co. of Goldsboro.
It is patterned after one that Moseley designed for Rowan County that was visited by Wayne County commissioners when they were looking at possible jail plans.
The county has set aside $10 million for the project that is named in memory of Winders, who served as sheriff for nearly 20 years. Winders, 57, died unexpectedly in January 2014.
It is the first phase of a larger judicial center that includes construction of a larger jail that will be connected to the satellite jail through a secure corridor.
The jail has three dorm-style wings, each capable of housing 64 inmates, and one wing of 15 double cells.
There are two control rooms, each able to monitor two wings.
Currently the county is paying nearly $900,000 a year to house inmates in other county jails because of chronic overcrowding at the existing jail.
"We are going to be able to do away with that and, in fact, reverse that because we will now have the 200 over there (downtown), and now we will have 418 combined," County Manager George Wood said during a Friday afternoon tour of the project site. "We won't need that many. So what we are hoping is that we are going to be able to flip that and say, 'OK, we want to take other counties' (inmates) at $50 day.'
"The bottom line is I have them in that dorm -- it doesn't matter if I have 50 or 64, I am heating it. I am cooling it. I have got the staff, and the $50 day more than pays for the meals we provide and showers and stuff like that so we will actually make money on that deal."
Jail overcrowding is expected to worsen as the state's new law requiring people sentenced on driving while impaired charges serve that time in the county jail, he said.
As the law comes into effect there are going to be more and more jails that otherwise might have been OK, but that are now going to be needing space, Wood said.
"So we will have savings two ways," Wood said. "One, I won't have to pay for them going to those places and two, hopefully I will have revenue coming in. Then all of that will help offset the operating cost."
Pete Corser, project superintendent, said recent rains slowed work down occasionally, but that they seemed to be able to overcome the weather.
"We are just about on schedule," he said. "Some things we are a little bit behind on. Some things we are a little bit ahead of. So we are right there with the schedule."
The biggest thing now is to get the roof on, he said.
It takes about 70 staff members to monitor the current jail, but a number of those are administrative, Wood said.
"But there are probably 65 that are involved in incarceration and here there will be 28," he said. "This will handle 218 that one (downtown) handles 200. But now, this is minimum security, but we can handle anybody over there (at the existing jail).
"Space is really at a premium so is makes sense to build these kind of facilities instead of a heavy-duty jail for somebody who is just serving time for a DWI."
Wayne County Facilities Director Kendall Lee said some people have asked him how secure the jail will be because all they could see is a block building.
What they don't see is the rebar in every other block cavity nor the concrete that fills each cavity from the floor to the roof, Lee said.
The jail includes areas for medical screening and for attorneys to meet with clients and a warming kitchen. The county contracts with a company to prepare the meals.
Wood said it was not feasible to build a full kitchen at the satellite jail when just years from now the larger jail will be built that would include a kitchen large enough to accommodate both facilities.
The public entry way faces North William Street.
"We will still do the booking at the main jail because at that point they have to classify them and determine whether they are going to stay there or be transported here," Wood said.