Freeholders Hear Architect’s Plan for Jail Renovation

CREST HAVEN — It is a rare day when the Cape May County Correctional Center has fewer than 300 inmates.
That overcrowded facility on the east side of Garden State Parkway in the Crest Haven Complex of county owned land, was built in 1981. It was designed for about 180, but the number remains well above that, even in off-peak season.
On Aug. 26, Architect Robert Garrison, hired by the county last year to study the center and make renovation recommendations, made his presentation to freeholders at their afternoon meeting.
He pointed to two designs of the present facility, and noted that, after a “comprehensive look at all the infrastructure as well as the physical facility,” he proposed a two story addition of 26 pre-fabricated concrete cells on each floor that would add 104 spaces for inmates.
Built onto the southernmost part of the facility, Garrison said the construction would take place without the need for inmate interruption, so that security would be maintained throughout construction, which he projected done in two years.
Once the new part if done, renovation of the existing facility can be begun, he said.
In addition, new mechanical room upgrades would ensure energy efficiency of the new facility.
When that new structure is done, the jail would also have an inside exercise yard, surrounded on all sides by walls, unlike the present exercise yard that is exposed on four sides, Garrison said.
“This will allow them to have more controlled exercise area for the inmates,” he said.
“I guarantee you one thing,” said Garrison, “The operating cost will go down substantially when we complete this operation based on what you have now.”
Garrison estimated the facility could take 18 months to construct, and possibly, up to two years, “depending on how much we run into. If we get the process started this fall, by this time next year, the new facility should be there except for the mechanical room.
“We will bring in (pre-fabricated) two-man boxes that will sit and stack,” said Garrison.
Vice Director Ralph Sheets said of the plan and prints, “It is a beautiful move.”