WISCONSIN RAPIDS − Just over two years after crews broke floor on the brand new Wood County Sheriff’s Office and Jail, the locks are on the cell doorways, elevators are operational, furnishings is being positioned and laptop wires are being linked as the top of building nears.
The transition group has begun to coach within the new constructing, Wood County Jail Administrator Lt. Ted Ashbeck mentioned.
Ashbeck and Wood County Sheriff Shawn Becker anticipate beginning the transfer into the brand new constructing someday in February, after the employees is absolutely educated on the procedures within the new facility.
Once the Wood County Sheriff’s Office and Jail are utterly moved out of the previous constructing, work on razing the previous jail can start someday in 2025. Becker mentioned he did not know precisely when that may occur.
People who want to get a glance inside the brand new facility firsthand are invited to attend an open home on Dec. 17 instantly following the Wood County Board assembly, which begins at 9:30 a.m., Becker mentioned.
Jail building is beneath finances and forward of schedule
Laura Valenstein, chairwoman of the Wood County Jail Construction Adhoc Committee, mentioned building has gone extraordinarily nicely. The building is beneath finances and forward of schedule, she mentioned. Samuels Group of Wausau, the development firm constructing the jail, has been straightforward to work with, Valenstein mentioned.
“They’ve done a great job,” she mentioned. “They’ve been extremely receptive to feedback and a few things we wanted to change along the way.”
Becker, Ashbeck, Facilities Manager Reuben Van Tassel and sheriff’s workplace employees have achieved a great job staying up to the mark with the jail venture, Valenstein mentioned. It was Valenstein’s first time being the chairwoman of such a big venture they usually made it straightforward, she mentioned.
“I get to watch from the outside while the team deals with the nitty gritty,” Valenstein mentioned.
Becker mentioned he is loved working with Valenstein and Van Tassel in the course of the venture, which broke floor in October 2022. The Samuels Group has been good about making wanted adjustments as they have been dropped at their consideration and preserving the venture inside its $98 million finances.
Wood County Sheriff Shawn Becker leads a tour by way of the brand new Wood County Jail on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, because it nears completion in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin.
New facility will increase security and alternatives
The new jail could have many new options that enhance security for each inmates and employees in addition to elevated alternatives for coaching and inmate programming.
The new jail has video convention rooms positioned all through the ability. Currently, corrections officers deliver inmates to the one convention room within the jail. The inmates wait exterior the room for his or her turns to make courtroom appearances. It’s a system that does not work nicely, Becker mentioned. The a number of video convention rooms will restrict how far inmates must be moved for his or her courtroom appearances. There is also one convention room that can enable a defendant’s legal professional to be within the jail with the inmate, as an alternative of within the courtroom.
Some of the adjustments within the new jail Becker likes greatest are these that can enable for elevated programming to assist inmates. The present jail’s one small convention room additionally serves because the library. Having a number of convention rooms within the new jail will even enable for extra conferences and coaching, Becker mentioned.
The expertise with COVID-19 had the jail’s designers and employees excited about what components the brand new jail wanted to guard inmates’ well being. There are cells designated for inmates who’re sick. The space contains an examination room for nurses to see inmates with medical issues. The employees will be capable of segregate sick inmates from the overall jail inhabitants, Becker mentioned.
The jail additionally has a padded cell for inmates who’re experiencing psychological well being points, Becker mentioned. The cell is designed to maintain an inmate who’s violent from hurting themselves.
Wood County Sheriff Shawn Becker leads a tour by way of the brand new Wood County Jail on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, because it nears completion in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin.
The new jail kitchen is also designed to permit inmates to coach on working in skilled kitchens, Becker mentioned. He hopes to work with Mid-State Technical College to create a program inmates can undergo to change into educated for restaurant work.
“Mid-State has been a very good partner for a lot of our jail programs,” Becker mentioned.
The new services additionally give Wood County Sheriff’s Office employees extra proof room, higher work areas to write down studies and meet, extra locker room house and a brand new exercise room.
Contact Karen Madden at 715-345-2245 or kmadden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @OkayMadden715, Instagram @kmadden715 or Facebook at www.fb.com/karen.madden.33.
This article initially appeared on Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune: New Wood County Jail will probably be completed quickly
