Architect picked to explore jail expansion

COEUR d'ALENE — Kootenai County has taken the next step toward jail expansion.

Commissioners have chosen LCA Architects of Boise to develop a cost estimate and scope of work to add between 100 and 250 "hard cells" to house felons, a new maintenance shop and 25 to 30 medical beds to house inmates who are sick, in need of a psychological evaluation or going through withdrawal.

"LCA has experience with jail remodels and expansions, including on ours," said Shawn Riley, Kootenai County's buildings and grounds director, referring to an expansion that was completed in 2002.

It also worked on justice or public safety buildings in Blaine, Ada, Elmore and Umatilla counties in the region.

LCA will be working in conjunction with Longwell + Trapp Architects of Hayden on the project.

The county will now negotiate with LCA on a cost for architect services, which includes design and construction oversight of the project. Riley said he expects the architect cost will be determined in the next month.

"They will be in charge of putting the (construction) project out to bid," Riley said.

Commissioner David Stewart said the county isn't obligated to proceed with LCA if a cost for its services isn’t agreed upon. The only other architect that submitted its qualifications for the job was Integrus Architecture of Spokane.

"We thought that there would be two, three or four at the most because this is a specialized project," Riley said.

If the county decides to proceed with constructing the expansion, the project would be paid with surplus funds and not raise taxes or put to a public vote.

Commissioners earlier committed $14 million toward the project.

"That does not mean that's what will get spent," Riley said. "What is committed and what is spent are two different things."

Riley said the county expects find out the construction cost for the project before the end of summer.

"I'd like to see us well into the design with a cost estimate at that point," he said.

Riley said while the expansion will likely be constructed, there still isn't a guarantee at this point.

"There's a good chance, yes," he said. "But a 100 percent guarantee? No."

"We're hopeful, and there's committed funds to get the project going, but until we see an estimated cost, that's the driving factor. The cost will determine how many beds."

The decision to seek an architect came after a National Institution of Corrections (NIC) report last October reaffirmed the jail is overcrowded.

The current jail near the fairgrounds opened in 1987 with 98 beds. Through remodels it was expanded to 127 beds. The latest addition, which opened in 2002, increased capacity to 327.

The number of inmates has fluctuated between 280 and 400 in recent months. County officials say the biggest demand is for hard cells.

Other facilities such as in Nez Perce and Bonner counties in Idaho and Idaho and Ferry counties in Washington hold 25 to 50 inmates on any given day who have committed crimes in Kootenai County.

The county spent $477,742 during fiscal 2015 on housing inmates elsewhere and $659,416 in fiscal 2014. Those figures do not include transportation costs and personnel time to transport inmates.

The county has penciled in other facility projects to be funded with the unappropriated fund balance of $37 million.

The county is also seeking architects to double the size of its Post Falls DMV office to reduce business traffic in Coeur d'Alene, remodel and expand the evidence storage areas at the sheriff's office and explore the feasibility of adding a floor to the justice building on Garden Avenue.

Last week commissioners voted 2-1 to split the cost with the city for the preliminary design and cost analysis for a 140-lot parking area across Northwest Boulevard from the county's downtown campus to reduce traffic congestion.

The cost to each agency would be $23,245 and the agreement still needs approval from the Coeur d'Alene City Council. The analysis would explore two options on how pedestrians would cross the busy street — via a pedestrian overpass or a signalized at-grade pedestrian crossing.