NCJ Number
81463
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 44 Issue: 1 Dated: (February 1982) Pages: 46-49,75
Date Published
1982
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article examines prison design and construction in the 1960's and 1970's in an effort to determine why these plans were so costly and looks at legislative and other remedies to conserve future construction costs.
Abstract
In 1960, prison planning and building was a relatively simple process, with the corrections department in firm control and prison sites easy to obtain. Prisons' total sites were larger as was the gross space allocated per inmate bed. During the 1970's priorities were placed on minimum security and community-based corrections. New prisons are generally better planned and designed and the thrust is a more human environment. New institutions cost less per square foot because there is less hardware, yet escalation makes today's final costs astronomical. Hard research on prison design is lacking. Processes that contribute to time and money problems are the process for selecting planners and architects, the diffuse State management functions, the lack of State correctional standards, and others. Construction codes and standards also contribute to the high costs of prison construction projects, although the major factors in high prison costs remain the administrative process for planning a new prison; the client definition of custody level, the security requirements, and the prison operations; and the site's geography. Legislative remedies for this problem involve improving the process for selecting planners/architects by requiring applicants to possess correctional planning and design experience or to associate with someone who does, requiring the State's correctional agency to submit a facility master plan to the legislature and the State's finance agency, endowing the experienced State agency with authority of overseeing prison construction projects, and requiring an accreditable correctional facility. No references are cited.