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Consultants present jail master plan: renovation or new build could cost tens of millions
Summary
Consultants told Barry County commissioners that the county’s 50-year-old jail is functionally obsolete and that options range from $40–50 million for many configurations to reconciled scenarios near $30–35 million; consultants recommended preliminary design work to narrow costs and confirm whether renovation or new construction is viable.
Consultants from Secureitecture and Abin Marsh delivered a high-level master-plan briefing to the Barry County Board of Commissioners on April 14 that framed the county’s jail as an aging, operationally obsolete facility and presented a range of planning options and costs.
Red Dodd of Secureitecture said the county’s existing building is over 50 years old and needs an estimated $6.5 million to $8.5 million in systems upgrades just to bring major building systems up to code and efficiency. Beyond systems work, the facility’s layout—multiple separated cell pods without a central control room—creates operational staffing inefficiencies and safety concerns.
“Jail capacity isn’t the major issue today,” Dodd said, noting an average daily population decline since 2018 and pandemic-era lows. But he added that the building’s configuration forces higher staffing needs: “You don’t have a single control room that can monitor all those cell pods.”
The consulting team presented program scenarios built around 60-, 72- and 120-bed planning options. Initial option lists produced total project cost ranges of roughly $40 million to $50 million. After “reconciliation” to a design target, consultants said they could aim for $30–35 million by tightening the program, reducing square footage, and using multipurpose spaces.
Commissioners pressed consultants on assumptions. Commissioners asked how peer counties’ capacity and utilization compared, whether declining average daily populations made large investments premature, and what risk of unforeseen conditions would mean for renovation cost estimates. Consultants recommended an index predesign phase—preliminary design work on both renovation/addition and new-site options—to firm up costs and feasibility before a larger commitment.
Consultants flagged two viable sites: the existing jail property (which would allow reuse and avoid land purchase) and a second site north of Aldi owned by the city of Hastings. They warned that new construction on the existing site likely would be constrained in square footage, while a remote site could cost more because of utilities and site work.
Commissioners repeatedly noted the uncertainty and the potential for rising construction costs. The consultants estimated a rough hard-construction cost basis in the master-planning phase of approximately $776 per square foot; they said more detailed cost breakdowns would appear during schematic and preliminary design phases.
Consultants recommended next steps: (1) authorize an index predesign or preliminary design to compare renovation and new construction with refined cost estimates; (2) engage a construction manager for more accurate pricing; and (3) include mental-health and alternative-treatment space planning in follow-up design work. Commissioners directed staff to consider next-phase work and expected additional public engagement and reporting before any appropriation.
