The Jail Consolidation Project is underway!
The project was planned as a South Tower addition to the Public Safety Building to replace the outdated City-County Building Jail. The Dane County Sheriff’s Office, Dane County Public Works, Project Architect and Engineering consultants from Mead and Hunt, Potter Lawson, HDR, and construction manager Gilbane planned for the jail consolidation. Material and labor costs increased during COVID-19, which impacted the overall project budget.
The initial goals for the South Tower project were to:
Provide one consolidated jail facility.
Replace the outdated cell blocks in the City-County Building Jail.
Provide appropriate medical and mental health space.
Eliminate/significantly reduce solitary confinement.
Provide visitation at the housing units.
Provide multipurpose space to meet the programming and spiritual needs of residents.
Provide a downtown location close to the courthouse and bus transportation.
Reduce the total number of beds.
Improve staffing and operational costs.
Minimize the impact on the existing operations during construction.
Replace the Ferris Center (Huber) facility.
The Jail Transition Team, which consists of a Lieutenant, a Sergeant, and four deputies, was instrumental in steering the planning around our Direct Supervision and Strategic Inmate Management philosophies, moving away from the linear indirect supervision (CCB). The goal was to create a space that was normative in nature, reducing the institutional feel. To achieve this goal, the design includes biophilic design elements, utilizing color theory, and, where possible, using normalized furniture. Particular attention was paid to bringing in as much natural light as possible, including tunable lighting that mimics the brightness and color of the sun throughout the day in certain areas.
DCSO and its partners paid particular attention to our medical and mental health areas. The South Tower addition and PSB renovation will create a capacity for medical and mental health clients like we have never seen. With a rated capacity of 62 dedicated medical beds and 56 dedicated mental health beds, DCJ will be better suited to treat and aid in recovering all persons in our care.
Along the same lines, the design team has incorporated many program and exercise spaces in the South Tower to ensure residents have access to educational programs and dedicated spaces to exercise. Exercise has been proven to reduce stress and anxiety amongst incarcerated people, and the programming offered at the DCJ builds basic coping skills and focuses on skills that residents can take back out into the community with them. Some of the programming provided inside the DCJ are Parenting Inside Out, Moral Reconation Therapy, Employability Skills, AA, NA, and faith-based supports such as Bible Study.
The new facility will be modern and innovative, built around the direct supervision philosophy. Deputies will be in the housing units with the residents. The facility will incorporate new technologies in both facility design and operations. The design team has worked to include as much natural light and open spaces into the project as possible. They also added biophilic design elements and used color theory to bring nature into the building. Using normalized furniture, fixtures, and finishes as much as possible to make the facility less institutional is also a core goal of the design.
Unfortunately, due to budget contraints, some of the original project goals will not be achieved. In 2022, through an agreement with the Dane County Board, a redesign of the project resulted in the elimination of visitation at the housing units, elimination of huber housing/entrance, elimination of booking renovation and a reduction in programming space.
The Jail Consolidation Project went out for bid to construction firms in September of 2023. Submissions were due by November 14, 2023. One contractor bid on the project. Miron Construction was awarded the contract in early 2024. A formal groundbreaking ceremony was held at the site on March 13th, 2024. Many community stakeholders were present, along with past and present stakeholders showing their support for this project. The South Tower addition is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2026 and the PSB renovation will start at the beginning of 2027. The entire project should be completed the fall of 2027.
Consolidating downtown jail facilites (Public Safety Building, and City-County Building jail) from separate locations into one building will tremendously benefit staff, jail residents, and the community. With localized visitation for family, access to public transportation, and a singular place to go, the community will have easier access to incarcerated loved ones.
Upon completion of the South Tower addition and PSB renovation and once the City-County Building is officially vacated, the DCJ's overall maximum bed count will drop from 1013 to 825, a reduction of 188 beds. This project eliminates the Ferris Center (decommissioned in 2024) and does not include housing for Huber prisoners.
