BEMIDJI — The Beltrami County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a plan to demolish the current jail facility once the new one is built.
During an Oct. 21 work session, Administrator Tom Barry advised the jail steering committee is in favor of the demolish option, given the budget for this portion of the project is $8.5 million, and the county may have future space needs.
"We're not growing more land downtown. We're already somewhat constrained on the campus that we have now,” Barry said. “We don't want to consume any more taxable land and take that off the taxable roll. And so instead, we need to be better stewards of preserving and repurposing existing land that we have.”
Construction of the new jail facility is so far on time and on budget, with commissioners also virtually touring the progress during their work session.
In 2023, Beltrami County voters overwhelmingly supported a special sales tax to fund the estimated $80 million construction of a new jail facility. Dollars generated from that tax would also fund the demolition of the current jail.
Tearing down the existing jail and constructing a new sallyport — a type of garage door that allows for secure transport of incarcerated people — on the judicial center is expected to be the least costly option at just over $6 million.
A partial remodel or a complete remodel were also considered, but the price tag increased by the millions for retrofitting the nearly 40-year-old correctional facility.
The current Beltrami County Jail downtown is connected to the judicial center via an underground tunnel, but with the advent of Zoom court, many incarcerated people’s hearings are now conducted online.
After about six weeks of public comment, most of the seven anonymous comments supported the demolition option.
“Only the Good Lord knows what lurks in the walls, ceilings and under the floors in there,” one commenter wrote.
A couple urged the board to consider the remodel option to serve as an emergency winter shelter or as a halfway house.
“There are many ways to utilize without spending millions,” one wrote. “Many of the buildings downtown can be used for so many things, instead of tearing down and rebuilding.”
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