State officials outline site, design and funding steps for replacement women’s correctional and reentry center

State officials told the Corrections & Institutions Committee that the state must replace the aging Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility (CRCF) in South Burlington and that two state-owned sites are the leading candidates for a new women’s correctional and reentry center.

"We have over $5,000,000 in deferred maintenance, and we have over $5,000,000 in scheduled capital maintenance over the next 10 years," Wanda Manoli, Commissioner of Buildings and General Services, said during the committee briefing, describing the existing building’s age and physical limitations.

The briefing summarized a multi-year effort to align corrections policy and reentry programming with the physical facility. Nick Demel, Commissioner of Corrections, said the current CRCF — built in 1974 with a 1983 addition, on about six acres in South Burlington and now housing 77 beds under a water/sewer agreement with the city — no longer supports modern reentry or programming space and staff needs. "This is where policy and the physical infrastructure collide with each other," Demel said.

Why it matters: committee members and agency leaders described the replacement as necessary to provide private medical and mental-health space, substance-use and education programming, and safer housing. Officials said the state has appropriated $16 million so far to advance site studies and preliminary design; additional funding and permitting will be needed for full construction.

Key details and timeline

- Deferred maintenance and near-term capital needs: agencies reported more than $5 million in deferred maintenance plus more than $5 million in…