MERCER CO. Design work to begin on jail

The estimated cost is nearly $17 million.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
MERCER, Pa. -- The Mercer County Prison Board has instructed a prison architectural firm to begin preliminary design work for a 266-bed county jail.
The county plans to build the jail on 15 acres along Thompson Road in Findley Township. The land was donated by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.
The site is part of the land set aside for the State Regional Correctional Facility, a minimum-security state prison in the township.
Dennis Songer, Mercer County controller and prison board chairman, said the project has an estimated cost of $16.96 million, which includes $1 million for site development.
The jail will be designed to allow for expansion to 500 beds, Songer said.
Funding source: Funding will come from a $34 million bond issue Mercer County commissioners are borrowing for projects.
The prison board directed L. Robert Kimball & amp; Associates of Ebensburg on Monday to prepare preliminary design plans, and the project should be ready for bids in January or February. Construction is to be completed by September 2003.
The present jail has 114 beds, but the county has been averaging more than 180 inmates a day in recent months. A large number of them have to be housed in other county jails, and that has become a major expense.
Songer said some residents of Thompson Road attended Monday's prison board meeting with concerns.
Some fear a major increase in traffic because Thompson Road dead-ends at Interstate 80, preventing through traffic. Others raised security issues, some questioned where the jail entrance will be, and others asked why it has to be built so close to their neighborhood, Songer said.
He said another meeting will be scheduled with residents but the county intends to build on the Thompson Road site, provided the state Legislature approves the donation of the land.