Temporary county jail to open today

THOMAS E. McCARVER PHOTO

Spartanburg County detention officer Mike Jones checks out the women's cells in the new temporary jail.

A temporary jail opening today in Spartanburg could become a permanent jail in several years. County officials plan a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 3 p.m. at the new facility, located in the old Sullivan Hardware building on Daniel Morgan Avenue across from the County Courthouse.

The cost of the project, including construction, design fees and furnishings, is about $916,000, said Assistant County Administrator Alan Ours.

The public may tour the temporary jail from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday.

Jail officers will begin moving inmates into the building by Monday, Ours said.

The state Department of Corrections has approved the use of the jail for three years, the time it will take to build a new, $14.4 million jail off Asheville Highway north of Spartanburg.

The county must build a new jail because the average daily population of the 33-year-old jail is usually double its rated capacity of 82 inmates.

"At the time of the construction, if the average daily population is above the 240-bed level the new jail is being designed for, then the council will need to consider whether or not to add additional housing pods at the new facility or somehow use either the Sullivan facility or the (existing) jail," Ours said.

To make the temporary jail permanent, the county would have to build an outdoor recreation yard and replace the dry sprinkler system with a wet one, he said.

The Dallas architectural firm of Henningson, Durham and Richardson estimates it would cost another $360,000 to turn the building into a permanent jail.

The jail has five dormitory cell blocks, which each have several showers, toilets and sinks behind privacy screens. Exterior walls are brick and concrete. Interior walls are plywood covered with sheetrock. One cell block and a smaller area will house women inmates, while another will house weekend inmates. Officers will be in the dormitory blocks with inmates, unlike the existing jail, where several inmates are locked in separate cells.