Prison Construction Project

Project Timeline

• In July 2012 the County began a process to assess the current jail needs.
• A Facility Needs Assessment and Feasibility Study was completed on September 23, 2013, by Crabtree Rohrbaugh and Associates / Sleighter Engineering.
  
  A site was selected at the Dunbar Township Business Park to build a new facility. It was proposed to purchase 58 acres from Fay Penn at a cost of $1.25million. The site did not include infrastructures such as sewage, access roads or utilities and was subject to zoning conditions.
• In August 2014, plans were halted after an out-of-county Judge reversed a Zoning Hearing Board (ZHB) decision 2 months earlier. The decision meant the decision of the ZHB was reversed making the Dunbar Township Business Park acreage not usable.
• On November 21, 2014, the County retained Astorino Designs (also known as Astorino CannonDesign) to evaluate prior studies, determine the feasibility of renovating existing jail and/or expand on the existing prison site up to including Phases for future construction for a 400-bed prison.
• On June 23, 2015, Astorino CannonDesign presented the following conceptual design
  • Text Concept Presentation (PDF)
  • Geotechnical Engineering Investigation Report (PDF)
  • Cost Estimate (PDF)
  • R1 Aerial Rendering (PDF)
  • R2 Sally Port (PDF)
  • AO-1 Site Plan Lower (PDF)
  • AO-2 Site Plan Aerial (PDF)
  • AO-3 Site Sections (PDF)
  • A-1 Lower Level (PDF)
  • A-2 Upper Level (PDF)
  • A-3 Mezzanine (PDF)
  • A-4 Mechanical Penthouse (PDF)
• In December 2016, the County retained the services of Carter Gobel Associates, LLC to conduct a Prison Needs Assessment (PDF) which was completed May 2017.
• In October 2018, an Updated Prison Needs Assessment (PDF) was completed.