Latest Lancaster County Prison Plans Push Price Tag Close to $500 Million

The latest renderings of a new 430,000-square-foot correctional facility were released by Lancaster County’s Board of Commissioners on Jan. 6. | Photo Credit: Lancaster County Board of Commissioners

• Plans for the new Lancaster County prison include a 430,000-square-foot facility with more than 1,000 beds and spaces for programming and wellness.
• The new facility will replace the county’s current prison, which was built in 1851 and faces mounting maintenance costs.
• County officials will now seeks to finalize design, costs before setting a construction timeline.

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. – Last week, the Lancaster County, Pa., Board of Commissioners released preliminary designs for a new prison, with cost estimates ranging from $434 million to $497 million.

The plans call for a one-story, 430,000-square-foot facility with 1,046 beds across 22 housing units, including a 6-bed juvenile unit and other specialty units. It will include dedicated spaces for programming, including educational opportunities and re-entry and support services. The county says the new facility will also prioritize evidence-based treatment and counseling, and include wellness areas — including a pharmacy — for inmates and staff.

Lancaster County Commissioner Ray D’Agostino told WGAL News 8 that having on-site treatment spaces will save the county considerable costs over time.

“That’s actually going to save us operationally, because right now we have to transport people to other medical facilities. It takes a lot of staff time, and it’s precious time not only to our staff, but also the people that we’re serving,” he said.

Plans for a new correctional facility to replace the county’s current 175-year-old prison have been in the works since early 2025. While the original 1851 Gothic Revival castle-style building has not been used for almost a decade, additional buildings constructed at the facility between the 1960s and 1990s are now outdated, as well. The county says that the current prison can no longer accommodate the needs of a modern correctional facility, and that ongoing maintenance costs exceed the cost of building a new facility.

The designs for the new prison include sustainability features, such as the introduction of natural light via windows and skylights throughout the facility. The new prison will also be climate controlled, which the current facility lacks.

The county also sought to incorporate staff wellness into the design plans, recognizing that such efforts could aid in recruitment and retention. The design features new workstations, training spaces and break areas that prioritize safety.

In August, the county reached an agreement with Skanska to serve as the construction manager on the project. CGL is serving as the owner’s rep during the preliminary design phase, with designer GFT TranSystems.

The county is accepting questions and comments from the public through its project website and will continue incorporating that feedback into its plans as it seeks to finalize design, establish a final cost and set a date to start construction. The most recent project plans will be presented to the county’s Prison Board on Jan. 15. The county hopes for the facility to be complete by 2028.

“For me, it’s more important about doing it right and making sure we’re getting the planning right before a shovel ever goes in the ground, because you don’t want to be changing things once you start to build the facility,” Lancaster County Commissioner Josh Parsons told WGAL News 8.