Salina staff present multi-decade plan: knock down old jail, relocate health department, reuse Memorial Hall as city–county campus

Salina city and county staff and their consultants on Monday presented a multi-decade space study that recommends demolishing the old jail, relocating the county health department, and repurposing Memorial Hall and the existing municipal complex to address long-term space shortages.

The study’s consultants and city/county presenters said the first recommended action is demolition of the old jail, a move the county can finance from cash on hand. Over succeeding years the report recommends finding a new site or building for the health department, moving many administrative functions to Memorial Hall if a private developer does not take it, and turning the current city–county building into a consolidated judicial center. The study includes high-level cost estimates and a proposed sequence that staff described as a 20-year strategy rather than a near-term fix.

Why it matters: the study aims to resolve long-standing space shortages on the county side of the city–county building and to preserve downtown function and pedestrian flow while clarifying ownership questions that have accumulated from decades of ad hoc leases and trades. Staff emphasized that the project is strategic and phased and that no final decisions or bond measures were requested at Monday’s session.

Key recommendations and near-term steps - Demolish the old jail: Staff told the commissions the county has cash on hand to pay for demolition and that demolition bids could be awarded by late fall if the commissions follow the…