County continues to make progress on new jail
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Saline County continues to make headway on the voter-approved construction of the new jail and Sheriff’s facility. On Monday, May 3, the Salina City Commission approved on second reading three ordinances that allow for the construction of the jail at the selected site: vacation of the right-of-way for a platted but never constructed section of Woodland Avenue (Ordinance No. 21-11054), amending the City’s future land use plan to change the land from an “employment” designation to “public/semi-public” (Ordinance No. 21-11060), and rezoning the property from industrial to public use – public facilities (Ordinance No. 21-11061).

The County has now acquired title to the property of approximately 18 acres at 800 E. Pacific Avenue and is proceeding with the “design development” phase of the project. The images in this email show 3-D renderings of proposed designs for three jail spaces. The image above shows the booking area where arrestees will enter the secured jail facility.
In the design of the jail, attention is being paid to the needs of staff and inmates – particularly those who have special needs. This second image shows a rendering of the planned medical area. Jail staff has also worked closely with the architectural and construction team to review classroom spaces, housing areas for inmates with mental health challenges, kitchen and laundry spaces, and visitation areas.
The final image shows a rendering of a typical jail housing unit. This unit is designed to hold up to 20 inmates, with two people per cell and two rows of five cells. Also included in the housing unit are common shower facilities and a gathering space. On Wednesday, May 12, County staff along with project design staff toured a plant that manufactures pre-cast jail cells. The pre-cast process allows for uniformity and reduces construction defects; pre-cast panels are being evaluated for some of the building exterior materials as well as the pre-cast cells for the jail housing units.

The next steps in the project are to wrap up the design development process by the end of June and present it to the Board of County Commissioners in early July. Once the Commissioners approve the design, the project will move into the preparation of construction documents that can be used for bidding. Also during this time period, the County financial team will be preparing to issue the bonds that were approved by voters to be paid from the new sales tax.
Stay tuned for more information!

Phil Smith-Hanes
Saline County Administrator