Ribbon Cut On New $142 Million Escambia County Correctional Facility

March 30, 2021

A ribbon cutting was held Monday for the new Escambia County Correctional Facility as the county officially took possession of the $142 million building.

The 840-bed facility on Pace Boulevard replaces the Central Booking and Detention facility that was destroyed by a natural gas explosion during the April 2014 flood that claimed the lives of two inmates and injured about 180 others.

For a NorthEscambia photo tour of the jail, click here.

“It’s very important that we’re taking a step to help those that are in our custody and try to make sure that they come out a better person than they came in. I say we’re also leading the way,” Escambia County Commission Chairman Robert Bender said. “We’re showing by example having impervious surfaces for our asphalt. This is as much of a drainage project as it is a corrections project. Trying to help the drainage in this area, containing flooding so that we don’t have to deal with the same issues that we saw in 2014. We are very excited that we are able to address all these with just one project.”

The county will now move into the new building over the next month or so before inmates are housed in the building.

The new four story building will not replace the current jail, which was constructed in the 1980s. The two buildings are connected by an enclosed corridor. Inmates will be divided between the two buildings based up on their security classification. Main services such as food and laundry will be in the new building.

The facility is designed with separate wings to house and provide services for juveniles, keeping juveniles out of normal sight and sound of adult inmates.

“The best thing that I see is the opportunity not just for the inmate population to be in a better, secure and safer environment. It’s a safe and secure environment for our staff to operate in,” Escambia County Corrections Chief Rick Powell said. “The biggest advantage is the size of this building of over 300,000 square feet. It is designed so it’s not tight, and it can be managed better. In the last two and half years in preparation for this building, we have been rewriting policies looking at old policies, restructuring how we conduct business and bringing policies into a modern era. Every area has a medical unit and educational area. Inmates have the essential needs to not come back. We try to introduce skill sets so they make better choices.”

There are 15 housing units, known as “pods” for the inmates. Four dorms are centered around a central multipurpose room that includes a station for corrections officers. Inmates will spend their time inside the pods, with services such as medical treatment, food and video visitation coming to them. There are televisions in the multipurpose rooms, and there access to an attached recreation area with a basketball goal. The rec area has high windows that open to the outside to allow in natural light and fresh air.

The corrections facility is operated by Escambia County, not the sheriff’s office.

“What you see here is near and dear to my heart because every step of the way the partners that we chose, that the Board of County Commissioners chose, we had that partnership with one goal in mind — to make it the very best,” Sheriff Chip Simmons said. “The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office will continue in this partnership and I’m proud to be a part of it.”

For a NorthEscambia photo tour of the jail, click here.

NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

Comments

11 Responses to “Ribbon Cut On New $142 Million Escambia County Correctional Facility”

  1. Bill on April 1st, 2021 11:50 am

    Could have saved a lot of money had they just repaired the old jail.

  2. Bob on March 30th, 2021 8:46 pm

    Someone should have gone to jail for letting it blow up to begin with. They were warned after the 2012 flood. Another cover up like Willie Jr drinking anti freeze under a house a week before he was to testify against WD. Escambia will never change.

  3. Willis on March 30th, 2021 4:49 pm

    “If you build it, they will come”

  4. mike on March 30th, 2021 4:19 pm

    well, with the people unwilling to follow the rules and insisting on breaking the law, this type of place is necessary. with property tax almost double from last year, the county has a group that must be living like kings, is all i can think. i hope some of it trickles down to the normal county employees, like our law enforcement and first responders. i wish i could stop wearing this mask, there seems to be no faith in the vax, tho, so mask is not ending any time soon. the biz of dealing with the criminals is not going to stop growing, bcuz there are those that will not go to work and do the hard way of making a buck like the rest of us.

  5. Obie 1 on March 30th, 2021 3:59 pm

    They DID Jon!

  6. Rasheed Jackson on March 30th, 2021 1:52 pm

    It is a shame that the county and counties all across America need to build multi million dollar jail facilities. I would much rather see this kind of money being spent in our communities to improve lives and to enhance our nieghborhoods. But the fact is there are people who have trouble coexisting with the general population without crossing that line. Normally it wouldn’t bother me what others do but their blatant disregard for other’s safety requires extreme measures.

  7. RMoore on March 30th, 2021 12:43 pm

    Now juveniles can tell their friends they are in jail since the juvenile center is in the jail building.

  8. Gman on March 30th, 2021 12:28 pm

    Glad to see the Sheriff at the ceremony, wonder when he will take the jail over from the inept county commission.

  9. Jon on March 30th, 2021 7:44 am

    Maybe one day they will pay out the victims of the jail explosion

  10. North side resident on March 30th, 2021 5:56 am

    I agree with mnon… build more prisons and jails to put the criminals. All this crime has got to stop. Make all violent felonies a mandatory life in prison. Start locking these goons up.and throw away the key.

  11. mnon on March 30th, 2021 2:52 am

    “They’re trying to build a prison,
    they’re trying to build a prison,
    for you and me to live in”
    -System of a Down

    Just keep building more prisons, bigger, more capacity… such a good business.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News