Last Updated on August 6, 2023, 2:46 AM | Published: June 30, 2023
OKLAHOMA CITY (Free Press) — In response to some residents’ requests, the Citizen’s Bond Oversight Advisory Board has agreed to include the current site of the jail at 201 N. Shartel for consideration along with ten other sites that have been offered by various owners around the county.
However, the current site is considered to be too small by consultants, with the committee looking more strongly at ten other sites at various distances from downtown where the Oklahoma County Courthouse is located.
According to clear statements made by the site evaluation consulting firm, the evaluation process is expected to take around four months. However, some vague banter during the meeting lead to speculation in the press that it could be as early as August.
Board members
The seven members of the oversight committee were selected by the Board of County Commissioners of Oklahoma County (BoCC) to oversee the construction of the new detention center. The committee was formed as part of the bond package that received voters’ approval last June.
The Citizens Bond Oversight Advisory Board includes:
- Steve Mason, Chairman, developer, engineer, and business owner.
- Joanne Davis, the executive director of the OKC Black Chamber of Commerce.
- Larry Stevens vice-chairman, and former Edmond city manager.
- Mike Maze, a construction project manager that has extensive experience in supervising projects including a 3,000-bed detention facility.
- Pat McCoy, president of PEC Enterprises, Inc, a developer with experience in governmental projects and a private corrections facility designer.
- Sandino Thompson, vice president at Public Strategies and community developer with extensive experience managing large-scale construction and renovation projects.
- Xavier Neira, president at Logatoré, a Norman-based real estate development and consulting firm.
The oversight committee recently selected architectural firm HOK to design the new jail facility.
The significant step in hiring an architect brings the site selection process closer to fruition. With HOK on board, they will begin collaborating with the oversight board and start narrowing down the list of prospective locations.
Potential sites
The potential sites (other than the current one) under consideration vary in size, ranging from 51 to 193 acres of land.
According to the most recent agenda for the June 20 Citizens Bond Oversight Advisory Board meeting, the list of potential sites include:
- 59 acres of land located at 17501 NE 150th Street in Luther, OK, which is proposed for sale by David and Toni Hennessey.
- 69 acres of land located at the northwest corner of I-35 and Britton Rd, offered for sale by Oaked Technology Park, LLC.
- Between 80 to 132 acres of land located south of the intersection of Midwest Boulevard and Wilshire Boulevard, which is offered for sale by the Ted Eckroat and Pat Eckroat Revocable Living Trust.
- 71 acres of land located at 1901 E. Grand Boulevard, which is offered for sale by Willowbrook Investments LLC and Garrett & Company Resources LLC.
- 63 acres of land located at SE 29th Street west of Kickapoo Turnpike, which is offered for sale by Tsalagi Development LLC, Randy Goodman Managing Member.
- 89 acres of land located at NE 10th and I-35, offered for sale by the commissioners of the Land Office and the OKC Water Trust.
- 133 acres of land located at 5500 Lincoln Boulevard, which is offered for sale by the Commissioners of the Land Office.
- 51 acres of land located on the southwest corner of Portland Avenue and Memorial Road, offered for sale by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.
- Up to 160 acres of land located at 5201 South Meridian Avenue, offered for sale by the OKC Airport Trust.
- Up to 192 acres of land located between South Newcastle Rd and SW 54th Street, offered for sale by the OKC Airport Trust.
Community Concerns
Many concerns have been raised by residents near the possible site locations, specifically in northeast Oklahoma City.
During the latest Citizens Bond Oversight meeting, the oversight board heard from several northeast OKC residents about their concerns with the possibility of a new jail being built within their community.
“Northeast Oklahoma City is not a dumping ground for facilities and other wasteful opportunities,” longtime NE OKC resident Kevin Maxwell said during the meeting. “I mean I know no one wants a jail in their neighborhood and I don’t dismiss that, but I also understand that there’s other opportunities up to include maybe right there adjacent to the building that’s already there downtown.”
“Northeast Oklahoma City is not a dumping ground for facilities and other wasteful opportunities.”
Kevin Maxwell
Other community members also suggested the idea of constructing the new OK County jail on or near the existing site in downtown OKC, even if it means building a two to three-level facility.
“I am specifically here to request that this board consider looking at the existing site to meet the programming requirements,” northeast OKC resident Gina Sofola said. “It should be considered, it should not be something that we dismiss because it’s going to be a complicated logistical project. So, that’s really my request is that this body and the newly selected architectural firm consider the existing site as seriously as they consider every other site.”
According to Stacey Trumbo, the Oklahoma County engineer, three separate studies conducted by professionals have examined the current site as a possibility, leading to a consensus that relocating the jail would be the most viable option for the one-story concept.
Yet, in a public listening session organized by the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Advisory Council on October 7, 2019, one of three options being considered was to expand the current site with land purchases, build a new three-story facility, and eventually tear down the current tower once the new facility was built.
“So, the one-story concept needs 25 plus acres just for the incarceration [facility] itself and everything around it would get us up in the 50 plus acres and you don’t have that down there,” Trumbo said during the meeting. “So, that’s the downside of the downtown site but if you want to go back with a high rise then you can really consider that.”
Reconsideration
The oversight board discussed adding the existing location of the jail to the upcoming site evaluations that will be conducted by HOK.
Thompson asked the HOK team to incorporate the current location into their site evaluations, despite the fact that it’s been previously considered and the size of the location is not ideal for the single-story concept.
“I want to make sure we’re not ignoring that [community concerns] because you guys have the benefit of having evaluated that in the past. But, it seems like the same conversations we’re having about some of these other sites we can add the existing site into that,” Thompson said.
HOK has estimated that the site evaluations will be about a 4-month long process, which includes looking at space needs and square footage for the new facility. As of now, it’s estimated that the final recommendation will be made by the end of the four-month-long evaluation process.
The HOK said it’s possible that the location for the new jail will be selected at the end of the 4 months. The firm will also set up tours for the oversight board to see first-hand how other recently completed facilities across the country are operating.
The new jail facility is estimated to be completed by 2026 or 2027. The next special meeting will be held on July 25, 2023, at 1:30 pm in BoCC Meeting Room 204.
Brianna Garcia is a freelance journalist covering local politics and culture for Free Press. She has a degree in Journalism from the University of Central Oklahoma.
