Jail architects to tackle crowding, site selection

Architects who will design the new Spartanburg County jail say relieving overcrowding and finding a site for the new lockup are the first problems they'll tackle.

The architects met with county officials yesterday to begin the three-year task of building the jail. The team of architects from the Dallas firm of Henningson, Durham & Richardson Inc., local architect Les McMillan and county officials discussed those and other issues in the first planning meeting on jail design. But when the issue of site selection came up, the group moved behind closed doors. Acting County Administrator Roland Windham said the site selection talks were held in private to discourage owners of potential sites from jacking up their land prices.

Windham said the county is considering three sites, all within about two miles of the County Courthouse. He said the architects will evaluate the sites to determine the feasibility and cost of building a jail at each of the proposed locations.

Site selection must be made early in the planning stages, since site conditions may effect the design of the jail, Windham said. The site may play a role in solving the other priority issue - relieving overcrowding in the existing 31-year-old jail - since one of the options being considered is constructing a minimum-security dormitory facility to hold jail overflow. The facility could be incorporated into the county's long-term jail plan.

Other options being considered to reduce the number of inmates in the old jail are renovating an existing building as a dormitory or purchasing portable jail cells. One site being considered for a temporary dormitory is a county-owned warehouse, formerly the Sullivan Hardware Building, across the street from the existing county jail.

Earl M. Stahl, project manager for the Dallas architectural firm hired by the county last month, said yesterday's meeting was held to gather preliminary information and ideas on a new jail, which a 1988 study estimated will cost the county nearly $17 million to build. Architects will continue to gather preliminary information today and will hold similar meetings with law enforcement agents, jailers and other local officials every three weeks to help develop plans for the jail.