new jail

After a tour of the new Genesee County Jail, under construction off of West Main Street Road in Batavia, County Legislature Chairwoman Shelley Stein said she likes what she sees so far in the new jail.

"It's incredible how all of the trades have worked so well together,' Stein said. "Pike, our construction management group, said we were going to be really happy with them. We are really happy with them. They have kept this project tight on budget. We have hardly tapped our contingency fund, not even one percent yet. So we're just amazed at the progress that we see."

The $70 million, 184-bed facility will be able to house both male and female inmates, provide space for mental health services, space for arraignments, along with the usual accommodations of a jail -- a place for inmates to exercise, take in recreational activities, eat, and meet with visitors.

The modern facility will also mean increased safety for county staff working at the jail.

Everything Stein saw on Monday, she said, aligns with her expectations, which developed with elected leaders visited other new jails in other counties to see what they had done.

"Visiting the jails that we visited, this lines up with exactly what we said that we wanted from what we saw," Stein said. "We have to make sure that our staff that interacts with our inmates remain healthy, well cared for and respected along with those inmates that we are tasked with housing at the same time. So this is all about human respect and dignity."

Stein spoke with The Batavian after a brief signing ceremony -- Stein, Sheriff Bill Sheron, Jail Superintendent Bill Zipfel, along with other county officials and construction company heads, signed a steel beam that will be the final steel beam installed in the new jail.

"I know that it is being built right," Stein said. "It's being built one time, and it'll be here for a long time. Public safety is something that we all prize, and this will be a key cornerstone of the community's public safety for a long time. I hope for a good century"

Nineteen miles of electrical wiring.

That’s one of the amazing facets making up the new $70 million county jail, Legislature Chairwoman Shelley Stein said Monday after taking a tour of the facility-in-progress.

Stein and fellow legislators Gary Maha, Marianne Clattenburg, Brooks Hawley, John Deleo, Gordon Dibble, Chad Klotzbach and Christian Yunker were afforded a special inside glimpse of the jail under construction between County Building 2 and the animal shelter.

Members of the media were not invited to participate. The Batavian asked Stein why not.

“The people who go to work there every day, they sign in, and they sign out, they have an obligation to the eventual public safety of that building. We sign in, we sign out, no pictures,” she said. “This today was an awareness of how far our building has come, to help us, those of us that have been involved in the design, been involved in funding, to see where we are and to ask questions. So it's an obligation of ours, to the public, to the public safety, that the sheriff has responsibility of.”

The Batavian asked why couldn’t a few members of local media sign in just as legislators did.

“I don’t know the answer to that question. I’m gonna be real honest. It would not be something that’s comfortable to me, because you’re going to see there are open places that are not yet fully built out, to protect what’s inside, such as our wiring, our Internet things like that,” she said. “Again, it is all about protecting, those are people who will be held there. And it’s protecting our staff, who will be helping to keep everybody safe and secure.”

It’s not about keeping any secrets from the public, she said, especially since Senior Project Manager Carl York from The Pike Company presents a monthly report about jail progress. She deferred to Sheriff William Sheron, as the one who oversees the jail and public safety, for answering when the public will be able to see photos of the jail’s interior via a media tour.

“I would say at some point, I don't think we're there right now. Because, you know, it's still in the developmental stage where I'd rather have you see more of a finished product,” Sheron said. “I’d really rather have you see the finished product rather than, for safety concerns, I don't want those kinds of pictures out in the media, that, you know, here's how the wiring is or whatever. It's really about the safety and the welfare of those people who are in our care and custody, and also our staff.”

He estimated that a tour might be more feasible closer to the end of the year.

During his report to the Public Safety Committee after the tour, Sheron reviewed some “project quick facts” about what has gone into the jail so far, including:

• 55,000 cubic yards of earthwork
• 115,000 building concrete masonry units
• 190 tons of structural steel
• 57.5 tons HVAC ductwork
• 19 miles electrical wiring
• 1,800 electrical light fixtures

The footprint is 101,377 square feet of four-pod configurations with 184 beds. The facility will house jail administration staff and Genesee Justice.

Photos of the jail by Philip Casper. Photo of Diana Prinzi and Sheriff William Sheron by Joanne Beck.