Floyd County Jail progresses with renovations, housing additions

NEW ALBANY—The Floyd County Jail still has several months of construction ahead as it adds extra housing and updates its infrastructure. But on Thursday, the jail moved ahead in one major area as it moved inmates into a newly completed housing block.

The jail renovations began November of 2018, and the project should be finished by October, according Floyd County Sheriff Frank Loop. The renovations will add about 115 additional beds to the facility, and the upgrades throughout the entire complex are expected to add about 20 more years to the jail's life. The entire project costs about $14.5 million.

The additional housing is meant to address issues of overcrowding, which sometimes meant that inmates would have to sleep on floor cots. The jail was built in the early 1990s with 129 beds, and it was at 234 beds before the addition of the new blocks. The jail averages about 300 inmates inside the facility, and after construction is complete, it should approach the 350 bed mark, according to jail commander Capt. Dave Furman.

"It was all kinds of stuff — blocks that are overcrowded, having more people in there, my officers having to respond to disturbances in the jail and having to deal with more inmates than they should," he said. "We had portable bunks stacked everywhere, so the floor space was limited. There were numerous issues with it."

Loop said the progress on the renovations is going as expected. It is still in its first phase, which involves the completion of the new housing area and the kitchen renovations. He said by moving the inmates out of the old housing area, contractors will be able to expedite the progress of the kitchen. He said he expects demolition for the kitchen construction to begin Thursday or Friday, and the renovations should be finished by mid-July.

The jail moved 14 inmates Thursday into the new housing pod that was converted from the jail's library, and another 50-bed housing pod converted from an outdoor recreation area should be completed within a couple weeks. The renovations to the facility will bring the jail to 12 housing blocks and three control pods.

The facility will have a multipurpose room on the side of the jail that will serve as a library and a chapel, Furman said.

The kitchen will be completely "gutted," Loop said, and it will feature new floors, walls, fixtures and plumbing. The entire complex will feature new lighting, HVAC, plumbing and paint.

Phase two of the project involves the renovations of the old housing blocks, and phase three involves the renovations of the booking area. The booking area will include a $250,000 body scanner to prevent drugs and other contraband from being brought into the facility.

"There's no part of the jail that's not being renovated," Loop said.

Furman said it's been a task to work around the construction, but the staff has become used to the changes. The staff has seen more overtime as they run the jail and oversee the daily construction, since they have officers stationed at the unsecured exits of the jail. The jail has also been bringing about 1,000 meals a day from an off-site kitchen.

"Everything's going good." he said. "We've had some adjustments to make, but our staff was able to make them pretty easily."

Loop said moving the inmates into the new housing pod was a major milestone for the project.

"We're here, and we're moving this project forward," he said.