County Jail

[jn1780]

Step 1 - hire an architectural firm that has actually built jails before and do due diligence on all the jails they've built to make sure they're the right firm.
Step 2 - allocate permanent maintenance funds that are enough to cover costs (virtually) forever.
Step 3 - hire enough competent personnel to run it.

Just do the right thing, free of corruption, kickbacks, political favors, etc. and spend enough money to do it all right.

Agreed, just saying a large part of the problem is not related to daily operations.

[TheTravellers]

Agreed, just saying a large part of the problem is not related to daily operations.

There will still be some kind of problems related to daily operations (there always are), but they should be lessened quite a bit if you have a decent facility to operate daily in.

[RGSR]

There is no choice, it's pretty much build a new jail or have the federal government take it over and do whatever they need to do with it. Not even going to waste my time and address your other arguments because even though you have a couple of relevant points, you don't seem to grasp the whole situation.

Oh I grasp it, believe me!

[Pete]

These are the plans submitted with their rezoning request, which will be heard 4/11.

[Pete]

Rendering:

[HFAA Alum]

Rendering:

Ah yes, I too believe our prison should look more like a high school.

[David]

I was stopping myself from making a 'looks like a high school' joke.

[ChrisHayes]

Ah yes, I too believe our prison should look more like a high school.

Far better looking than the abomination downtown.

[citywokchinesefood]

Only on OKC talk could you find a critique of a perfectly fine looking jail because it looks too much like a high school? Really? Do you want it to look like a medieval dungeon, Alcatraz, The Tower of London? Cooldown and dry the sweat from under your manboobs and take a little perspective on what you are criticizing right now.

[HFAA Alum]

Only on OKC talk could you find a critique of a perfectly fine looking jail because it looks too much like a high school? Really? Do you want it to look like a medieval dungeon, Alcatraz, The Tower of London? Cooldown and dry the sweat from under your manboobs and take a little perspective on what you are criticizing right now.

It doesn't come without some mode of insight and experience. Some of our high schools deserve facelifts, but don't get them and they just sit in a school that looks more like a jail than an institution for learning. I can give you one prominent example, a school off of Kelley Ave in the northeast quadrant of the city. I believe the school is currently called Classen SAS (School of Advanced Studies) High School at Northeast, their mascot: The Comets. But before that, it was a school that I spent my freshman and sophomore years in known as Northeast Academy of Health Science and Engineering, their mascot: The Vikings. We would get roasted so bad that they called our school a literal prison, and we couldn't refute that with as many breaker bars and metal screens they placed over the lower floor windows. Then the matter was further exasperated by the fact that the metal screens were black, the windows old, and then they have some screens still on the second floor. May not be the case now, but that look is still evident on such an old building. I'm sure that a redo of the windows would pretty much breathe new life into the complex, not to mention a rebuild of their football stadium that's currently wasting away in the back that could easily be repurposed for track, soccer, etc.

I just think it's funny that some of the schools older than the downtown prison can't get a facelift to dispose of some long-standing stigmas, and a local prison gets so much of a visual upgrade that it looks like a respectable establishment not housing the derelicts of society. Again, it's an opinion of mine, not a full-blown rebuke of what this intends to do. I just wish that some of our older institutions purposed for fostering an environment of adolescent social and educational growth can get this much of a visual overhaul in contrast to the lack thereof, that it would take as much priority.

[David]

Only on OKC talk could you find a critique of a perfectly fine looking jail because it looks too much like a high school? Really? Do you want it to look like a medieval dungeon, Alcatraz, The Tower of London? Cooldown and dry the sweat from under your manboobs and take a little perspective on what you are criticizing right now.

The joke is that certain people here used to complain about John Rex saying it looked like a prison.

[Dob Hooligan]

Rendering:

All those Benzez in the parking lot make me wonder if it isn't going to be a Midtown Renaissance development?

[PhiAlpha]

Rendering:

This rendering would be a lot cooler if they put all those people in orange jumpsuits.

[macchiato]

This rendering would be a lot cooler if they put all those people in orange jumpsuits.

But then they'd be outside of the prison, negating it's purpose.

[jn1780]

All those Benzez in the parking lot make me wonder if it isn't going to be a Midtown Renaissance development?

Didn't realize the staff are getting substantial pay raises.

[PhiAlpha]

But then they'd be outside of the prison, negating it's purpose.

Yeah I guess that would be more accurate for the current jail.

[RodH]

Maybe the cars belong to the attorneys.

[Midtowner]

Maybe the cars belong to the attorneys.

Lies. I don't see a single BMW.

[warreng88]

The Oklahoman reporting the new jail will cost $610MM, not $260MM like originally stated:

Oklahoma County doesn't have near the money it needs to build a new county jail, according to cost estimates revealed Tuesday.

While elected county commissioners told voters in 2022 a new jail could be built for $260 million, Tuesday's estimates put its cost today at anywhere from $610 million for a jail with 1,800 beds to $677 million for one with 2,248 beds.

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news...w/73429601007/

[Midtowner]

The Oklahoman reporting the new jail will cost $610MM, not $260MM like originally stated:

Oklahoma County doesn't have near the money it needs to build a new county jail, according to cost estimates revealed Tuesday.

While elected county commissioners told voters in 2022 a new jail could be built for $260 million, Tuesday's estimates put its cost today at anywhere from $610 million for a jail with 1,800 beds to $677 million for one with 2,248 beds.

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news...w/73429601007/

That's almost funny. I can understand a 10 or 20 or 25% bump in overruning estimates, but construction costs have NOT increased by 300%ish.

So this is just a case of someone trying to look like they're doing something and blame someone else for it not going to plan.

[bison34]

That's almost funny. I can understand a 10 or 20 or 25% bump in overruning estimates, but construction costs have NOT increased by 300%ish.

So this is just a case of someone trying to look like they're doing something and blame someone else for it not going to plan.

Is the $260 million for the 1,800 beds? Or a smaller amount? Common sense would indicate a smaller amount of beds, but I am not sure, as I haven't followed in detail.

[warreng88]

Is the $260 million for the 1,800 beds? Or a smaller amount? Common sense would indicate a smaller amount of beds, but I am not sure, as I haven't followed in detail.

I believe the original estimate was $260MM for the 1,800 beds. Now that has ballooned to $610MM for the same amount of beds...

[bombermwc]

In a positive way, it looks more like a suburban office park, than a jail. I'm not disappointed that it doesn't look like a traditional jail.

As for schools, one of the challenges they face that they never used to, was how do you secure the facility from bad actors, without making it feel like a jail? Badge access goes a long way, but ensuring travel is all indoors and doesn't require outside walking, costs money. Do you put fences up and make it feel even more like a jail? Someone has to open and close them too, more expense. A lot of schools are simply going windowless. Can't say i'm a fan of not being able to get sunlight, but it does make the building more secure.