Detention center gets a facelift

By Ana Ley

Sunday, Nov. 9, 2014 | 2 a.m.

The outdated north tower of Clark County’s downtown jail is getting an overhaul.

With a seven-year project to modernize the facility underway, a large portion of the building is a construction zone. But jail administrators already can pinpoint the benefits of what eventually will be their new workplace.

The kitchen and laundry room have received a facelift. There’s a model cell with scratch-resistant, tan paint. The warm, soft color was chosen to soothe inmates and provides enough contrast if the jail staff is searching for, say, a dropped key.

Sletten Construction Co., a Montana company that specializes in jails, is gutting and rebuilding the 385,000-square-foot building.

But the $112 million renovation, paid for by Clark County taxpayers, comes with additional costs.

While construction expenses don’t come from the detention center’s budget, the project is partly blamed for sending the jail into a ballooning operating deficit that’s projected to grow to $28 million in 2015. Moving inmates to accommodate construction crews requires more staffers than usual, and that has driven up overtime costs dramatically.

The north tower, built in 1984, is the oldest of Clark County’s three major jail facilities and most in need of an overhaul. The adjacent south tower was built in 2002, and the North Valley Complex in northeast Las Vegas was built in 2009.

Phase 1

Contractors finished the $24 million first phase in May 2013. They renovated the kitchen and laundry room in the basement, office space on the second floor and an IT room on the top floor.

During the renovation, inmates’ meals were prepared at the smaller North Valley Complex. Southwest Linen did the wash for 14 months at a cost of $1 million.

Metro Police — which runs the jail — usually has inmates do the laundry.

“The savings we get from doing it ourselves is huge,” said Capt. Rich Suey, who helps oversee jail operations.

Phase 2

The second phase is expected to cost $88 million and take four years. The target for completion is February 2018.

Contractors divided the tower into four construction zones to minimize disruptions to jail operations. Sletten crews are working on one zone at a time, with the first scheduled to be finished in April. It includes the building’s 12th floor, where the jail’s top administrators work.

The work will include upgrades and additions to the building’s medical and psychiatric wards, as well as to visiting rooms and cells.

The renovated tower will have new cellblock layouts so guards can face inmates from their desks instead of being out of sight in a segregated control room.

The trickiest part of the renovation has been moving inmates. During each part of the project, Metro staffers and about 400 inmates are moved within the downtown jail or to the North Valley Complex.