Pueblo County advances plan to repurpose jail tower into behavioral-health diversion center

PUEBLO, Colo. — Pueblo County staff and Trainer Architects presented schematic designs at a Board of County Commissioners work session to convert the county jail tower and an adjacent dormitory into a behavioral-health diversion center, county officials said.

The proposal, presented by Jeff Lane of Trainer Architects, would create dedicated behavioral-health pods, administrative space, and preserve or repurpose a city dormitory area that could hold between “60 to 80 beds” for municipal holds or as a shelter, according to presenters. County staff said the work is tied to a $4,200,000 grant with an expenditure deadline in June, driving an “aggressive” design schedule.

Design team and county staff said the project emphasizes a continuum-of-care approach and trauma-informed design, with clinicians staffing the treatment functions rather than deputized officers. “We come today just to kinda give you an update on the process that we have for the diversion center planning. We've been working several months now,” Jeff Lane said. County staff also noted Trainer Architects visited an existing model in Nashville to inform the design.

The schematics presented include two behavioral-health pods separated by gender, each with approximately 16 beds. The architects described one pod configuration as three two-bed rooms, one four-bed room and six single rooms (totaling 16 beds per pod). At the work session a commissioner summarized the layout: “In the behavioral health units, we would have 16 beds. So 16 for the male and then 16 for female.”

The adjacent dormitory area would be left largely as-is in the near term and could continue to serve low-level municipal holds; county staff said the final use (homeless shelter, leased space to the city, or a different custody configuration) remains to be decided in later conversations with city officials. “We left that space kinda shelled out to have that conversation with the city officials and the board of county commissioners on what we want for that space,” a county staff member said.

Architectural options shown to commissioners include: shifting the entry location to improve flow and parking access; adding light wells and natural daylighting to day rooms; converting an interior area to a courtyard/exercise space; preserving a kitchen to serve the facility; administrative offices and elevator access; and a longer-term option to stack behavioral-health units above the existing footprint to add capacity (staff noted stacking could add another 32 to 64 beds depending on configuration).

Presenters emphasized flexibility: design elements can be phased so the county can expand services later if the program grows. “That gives some flexibility for sheriff and staff to be able to navigate those different individuals that may come and go from the facility itself,” the architect said. The presentation also described movable program elements, fixed bolted bed frames intended for safety and durability, and options for differentiating interior finishes by unit.

Commissioners praised the concept’s potential to change local responses to mental health and substance-use crises. “I applaud you guys, and the sheriff and Dave and everybody else for working on this because we need to turn that around,” one commissioner said. Another commissioner said: “This is probably the most exciting thing that I've seen sitting in this chair,” adding that the plan could help build broader community partnerships around recovery services.

No final decisions were made at the work session. County staff said further schematic design, stakeholder outreach and a sun study for window placement are next steps. The commission moved back into an executive session at the close of the presentation.

Votes at a glance

- Motion to return to executive session for the previously stated reason — moved and seconded; meeting record shows two affirmative “aye” responses and the chair stated the commission entered executive session.