BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) — Erie County is proposing to consolidate its jails and build a new one in Alden. County leaders gathered at the Rath Building Friday morning to make the big announcement.
“The center is just an old, antiquated facility that is very difficult to maintain,” said Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz.
Poloncarz was joined by several county leaders, including Erie County Sheriff John Garcia.
“This is a generational project that's going to change many people's lives, and it's going to change people's lives for the better,” Sheriff Garcia said.
They unwrapped a study Friday proposing a new jail at the Erie County Correctional Facility in Alden on Walden Avenue, and to close the downtown holding center.
“There's only really one path forward, and that is to significantly renovate the facility at Alden and build additional complexes there on land that we already own,” Poloncarz explained.
But the new jail comes with a hefty price tag of more than $428 million. However, county leaders said consolidating by downsizing the number of cells and staff will save millions.
"If you look over 30 years, we're actually saving $138 million by going this route,” said Daniel Castle, commissioner, Erie County Department of Environment & Planning.
County leaders said building a new jail out in Alden, on 150 acres they already own, would create a safer and healthier environment for those incarcerated and the employees.
“For the staff itself, having a lunchroom, having a locker room, having an exercise room, heavy in the summer, air conditioning – the temperature gets so high in there. We have industrial fans. This is good for everybody,” Garcia described.
The next step is approval of $30 million from the county's Capital Projects Committee so it can generate a design.
Republican Erie County Legislator Frank Todaro, who represents Alden, told me he's supportive of the new jail plan.
“This is all fresh, so I'm sure that my office will start receiving phone calls," Todaro said. "We'll vet those calls and see what our constituents actually have on their mind.”
Members of the Legislature on both sides of the aisle were briefed on the plan Thursday.
Todaro said he was initially concerned about the downsizing of the number of jail cells.
‘We have bail reform, which is one thing I brought up to the sheriff," Todaro said. "I said, well, look, if we have a different governor, that is much more tougher on crime than our current governor, what happens if we need more space? That's the beauty of Alden – if we need to pivot and expand, it can be easily done.”
Republican lawmaker Lindsey Lorigo told me it's costly but is needed.
“But we have to look at the long-term cost," Lorigo said. "We can't get shortsighted on this. The long-term cost we would save. We're putting millions into upgrades and millions into maintenance on our current facilities. The more that we can do to make it safer, not only for the incarcerated individuals, but really for the staff too.”
The county conducted a full “Comprehensive Facility and Operational Needs Assessment,” considering four options to address the poor conditions of the current downtown holding center and the high cost of operating two aging facilities.
“I can’t wait for the day that we move to Alden and we treat our people in Erie County much better than we're doing so today,” said Sheriff Garcia.
Based on an anticipated future population of the facilities, these five development options were evaluated in the Needs Assessment:
- Baseline – Continue operating and maintaining two facilities, Erie County Holding Center in downtown Buffalo and Erie County Correctional Facility in Alden. The cost of this option is $218.3 million.
- Option 1 – Consolidate downtown at the Holding Center - Selective demolition and expansion at the downtown Erie County Holding Center. The cost of this option is $435.2 million.
- Option 2 – Demolish the downtown Erie County Holding Center and construct a new joint facility on the same site. The cost of this option is $698.4 million.
- Option 3 – New Downtown Facility on Unknown Site. Would require land acquisition. The cost of this option is $695.8 million.
- Option 4- Consolidate Facilities at the Correctional Facility in Alden- renovation and expansion at the Erie County Correctional Facility in Alden. The cost of this option is $428. 8 million
