MARION — The Grant County Jail Project continues to move forward as BW Construction introduced the floor plans for the renovation.
Design updates and an outline for a $60 million financing structure were presented Oct. 14 during the joint Grant County Council and Commissions meeting.
Dustin Fry from BW Construction said the project design is around 60 percent complete and wanted to update everyone before the council votes on the correctional rehabilitation local income tax at a following meeting.
“We have strong confidence in a minimum scope for the budget,” Fry said. “There is an opportunity as we refine the design process and go out for additional bids that these numbers will continue to tighten.”
Lead architect Sanjay Patel from engineering firm RQAW/DCCM described what the proposed jail addition would include.
He said there will be a housing pod consisting of 348 beds which will be directly connected to the existing detention facility.
“We have designed the pod around a single control point in the middle,” Patel said. “The layout is efficient in both operation and staffing.”
The expansion of the facility will include a laundry space, a kitchen and a mechanical plant facility to help modernize the pre-existing structure.
The estimated cost for the project was $59.988 million, which includes a $4.2 million cost in contingencies, according to Fry.
Part of this cost is to ensure reliability as well as accommodate the need for heating, cooling and plumbing, said Alex Margott, the mechanical engineer of Amaresco.
“The last thing you want to do is spend a big pile of money and your chiller dies two months later,” Margott said. “We are talking new controls, new boilers and new chillers to keep the building running for decades.”
Josh Chan of Robert W. Baird presented an outlined bond structure which would be supported by the correctional rehabilitation local income tax.
A nonprofit building corporation would issue the bonds with the county leasing the facility back over 25 years.
“This revenue structure is common across Indiana counties,” Chan said. “We are assuming about a 4.6 percent interest rate and an ‘A’ credit rating.”
The officials presenting said that a bond price can be expected early in 2026. Construction bids are due in February along with a completion date in April 2028.
The jail project has gained much urgency as well as caution from residents.
Grant County resident Ed Bounds asked the leaders to consider solutions to mental health and addiction before committing to the full build of the new facility.
“We have people with serious drug problems and mental health needs,” Bounds said. “If we can prevent that revolving door, that gives police a chance to focus on who really shouldn’t be in our community.”
Councilman Mike Scott acknowledge the concern and warned that spending millions of dollars won’t solve a problem when they don’t know what the root of the problem is.
Scott and others agreed on a need to collaborate with local law enforcement and mental health providers.
The commission emphasized that there is no final decision on the project scope or bond sale as of Tuesday, Oct. 14.
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