UPDATE: Groundbreaking Ceremony Held for Adams County Jail

QUINCY, Ill. — Just four months after national architecture firm HOK completed the design for Illinois’ new Adams County Jail in Quincy, city officials broke ground on the project at a ceremony in early October 2017.

As reported in Correctional News last June, the 72,000-square-foot project is designed to provide an additional 192 beds as well as serve the Adams County Sheriff’s Department as it strives to improve inmate classification and provide treatment and services accordingly. The project will also unite the local Quincy Police and Adams County Sheriff’s departments in the same facility for the first time in a quarter century.

In June, the project’s construction budget was estimated at about $30.2 million, which was $1 million over the original estimate, reported the Herald-Whig, a local news outlet. State’s Attorney Gary Farha said a $32.55 million contract for the project was finalized on Oct. 6 and delivered to Peoria, Ill.-based Williams Brothers Construction, who were also represented at the ceremony. Construction is slated to begin in two weeks. Though the original plan called for 184 beds, eight additional beds have been added to the roster.

“Today symbolizes the hard work countless people have done,” Farha said to the Herald-Whig. “This is definitely something that was needed. It is pretty incredible that the citizens voted for it, and now we’re finally able to deliver.”

The new jail will feature two different types of housing units, including four for general population and four for special needs, which will include six-bed sub dayrooms. This will provide the sheriff the ability to better classify the inmate population. Moreover, each unit will also include a covered space for recreation and other programming. Volunteers from the community will also be able to provide services to inmates with reduced personal risk to themselves.

As Jail Exploratory Committee Chairman Mark Peter remarked to the local press, the groundbreaking ceremony was a “milestone we’ve been striving for.”

The committee had been discussing the jail project for three years.