CLEVELAND — Cuyahoga County officials released the first exterior images of a new jail campus on Tuesday – and said their goal is to start moving dirt on the site this fall.
The massive project, northwest of Interstate 480 and Transportation Boulevard in Garfield Heights, will replace two aging jail towers at the Justice Center in Downtown Cleveland. The current budget is just over $890 million, though the county won’t have the final pricing for construction until early next year.
County leaders have been considering the future of the Justice Center for well over a decade. They’ve been talking about a new jail since at least 2019. But the pandemic slowed down the planning process. So did a debate over where the project should be.
RELATED: Approved Garfield Heights site for county jail draws mixed reaction.
Now there’s finally a groundbreaking in sight.
The county aims to issue bonds for the project in March, borrowing against a 0.25% sales tax that Cuyahoga County Council extended in 2023 to pay for the jail and a new or renovated courthouse.
The future of the courts tower at the Justice Center hasn't been determined yet. County officials are still evaluating a handful of proposals from developers who want to build a new Downtown courthouse or renovate historic buildings to hold the courts.
Construction on the new jail campus will start in the spring. But site preparations and demolition of some existing buildings on the 72-acre property will happen this year, Nichole English, the county's planning and program administrator, said during an interview.
The project could take three years to complete.
"We hope the building will get turned over in early 2029 to the county," English said, noting that moving everyone from Downtown to Garfield Heights is likely to take a few months, so the new jail probably won't be operational until mid-2029.
On Tuesday afternoon, leaders of the project team presented new images to Cuyahoga County Council's public safety and justice affairs committee.
"When it comes to the design of the project ... we're approaching third base, coming around and trying to head home by the end of the year," attorney Jeff Appelbaum, the county's owner's representative on the project, told council members.
The renderings show a three-story administrative building and jail, with free parking for visitors and employees. The office building will include a gym for corrections workers and law enforcement employees, along with offices and flexible conference rooms and meeting areas.
"The idea is this experience is going to be better for, really, everybody in the building," English said. "So much more light. Access to air."
The project also involves transforming a never-finished grocery store at the north end of the site, off Granger Road, into a professional development center for the sheriff’s department
English said roughly 1,000 people work at the existing jail, between corrections officers, law enforcement employees and contract workers.
"This is really making sure that we're treating everybody that is in the facility well," English said of the design. "And it goes a long way, right? We can attract good employees. We can retain employees. We've had trouble retaining employees in the past."
The jail will hold 1,886 beds – with room to expand, if needed. Floor plans show 52 housing units, with a medical exam room and a small visiting area in each pod.
There will be a single entrance, with several layers of security screening, for both visitors and workers, English said.
The plans show a visitation area with nine no-contact booths; six private rooms for meetings with lawyers; and three larger rooms designed for families and groups. The facility will also be equipped with tablets for video visiting.
"There's been several iterations. ... We've worked through some preferences, we've looked at costs, making sure that we're staying within budget," English said of the design. "So I think we're at a really good place right now."
The project will also include expanded medical facilities, designed to reduce the need for moving people around inside the complex - and sending them off-site.
Floor plans show medical exam rooms in each housing pod, a central medical clinic, a dental clinic, a lab, a pharmacy, an X-ray area and a space for physical therapy.
For the first time, the jail will be able to offer dialysis on-site. The facility will also include a 26-bed infirmary that can house people who need extra care but don't have to be transported to a hospital or emergency room.
"About 70% of the people that are in our jail have some metal health or substance-use disorder condition, and a lot of the people that are being served by the medical team and the psychiatric team and the addiction team have had very little care in the past, or may not be connected to care outside of the jail," Laurel Domanski Diaz, the county's justice and health-equity officer, said during an interview.
She said the goal is to create healing spaces that "bring the temperature down" for people being held in the jail.
"You do that by making it more of a normal space, offering programming," she said. "Not just having people sitting in cells, starting at the walls all day long."
When people are released from jail, they'll go through an area where they'll have access to basic things - like phone charging and coats - and re-entry services. That could include anything from help getting identification to counseling and prescription refills.
During Tuesday's committee hearing, council members asked questions about what's included in the project budget - solar panels - and what's not - a shooting range that Councilman Michael Gallagher has been advocating for.
Gallagher bemoaned the years-long debate over the jail project - and how the price tag has escalated over time.
"We have a situation here we're stuck with. We have to be honest about the cost. ... I'm very frustrated as a taxpayer. Very frustrated," he said.
It's unclear how much it will cost the county to staff and run the new complex, compared with the existing high-rise jails.
In 2021, an analysis predicted a $9 million reduction in annual operating costs, English said. But those numbers are obviously outdated.
A contractor working with the county on an operational study of the current jail is also conducting an evaluation of the proposed facility. That report should be finished later this year, English said.
Beyond staffing, she added, "there's no question that a new building is more efficient than the old building."
The county bought most of the Garfield Heights property last year for $38.7 million. That acquisition cost is not included in the budget for the jail development project.
The land was sitting idle after a series of failed shopping-center proposals. A project called Bridgeview Crossing fell apart during the Great Recession in 2008. An outlet-mall developer eventually acquired the land but never moved forward on building anything there.
Now, a banner hanging on construction fencing off Transportation Boulevard promises that change is coming.
"We're really working tightly to control that budget and make sure that we can get there and afford the product that we want," said English, noting the uncertainties around the impact of tariffs and the cost and availability of certain construction supplies.
"You never know what could happen," she added. "But I think for now, we feel like we're in a pretty good place."
