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Suncoast Pasco News

Jail Addition Construction To Start

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By Carl  Orth | The Suncoast News

Published: May 2, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY An addition to Pasco County's main jail might finally escape from the drawing board.

Groundbreaking for the long-delayed project at the Pasco County Detention Center, in Land O' Lakes, is set for Friday, May 9, the Pasco Public Safety Coordinating Council learned today.

The council brings together county staff members, circuit judges, prosecutors and law enforcement authorities.

The jail addition is meant to relieve chronic overcrowding at the Central Pasco detention center. At present a few hundred inmates must sleep in temporary beds because of the jail space shortage.

Frank James, Pasco County's facilities management director, said that a jail construction contract has been finalized with Peter Brown Construction.

The Clearwater-based firm won the bid for the jail project last Aug. 2, or about nine months ago.Revisions in the contract language, however, caused delays.

Also, architects originally designed the jail addition to have two floors and a total of 512 beds. County officials feared the addition would be full by the time it opened, so architects were asked to draw up a contingency plan for a third floor.

The county gave the Brown firm a notice to proceed in April, James said. The contractor has been asked to put the project on a fast track so construction might finish in 12 months instead of 14 months.
The first floor might be ready by April 2009.

The entire project could wrap up by July 2009 – about a year later than officials once had hoped.

Carl Orth can be reached at corth@suncoastnews.com or 727-815-1068.

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