June Lee, Chief of Staff to Wayne County Executive Bob Ficano, told the county commission today that they are stopping work for 60 days on the new jail currently under construction near Greektown.
The project has been mired in controversy over cost overruns. Recent reports suggested the county was poised to kill the project and negotiate the purchase from the state of the vacant prison facility on Mound Road.
However, Lee says the stop-work order is only a temporary step while the county looks to reconfigure the plan to bring costs down below the initially proposed $200 million.
“There have been discussions to see if there is an opportunity to move to the Mound Road facility,” said Lee. “There is no offer or deal. We need to move forward with the project in hand.”
Lee said the decision to suspend work was brought about by a revised maximum price estimate of $267 million from the project contractor, Walbridge. He added that a worst-case price for the facility could be as high as $391 million.
County officials will now spend the next 60 days scaling back the project, including potentially eliminating kitchen and hospital facilities and outsourcing those services, to bring the new jail’s cost in line with the $200 million price. The leaner scope could also mean fewer beds for inmates.
“You didn’t think this out very well before you decided to build this jail and spend this money,” said Commissioner Martha Scott, who was elected to the commission after the deal was approved.
According to Lee, the entire Wayne County system requires 2400 inmate beds and the new jail will need at least 1600 beds to be cost-effective. The original plan was to consolidate all three county jail facilities. But the revised plan may force the county to keep at least one of the additional facilities open.
County officials say they will deliver an immediate stop-work order to Walbridge by tomorrow morning. According to the terms of the county’s contract with Walbridge, equipment will remain on the site and work can be suspended for up to 180 days.
