Amador County Jail SB 863 Expansion

Nacht & Lewis (N&L) is currently working on the 40-bed mail jail housing unit expansion at the Amador County Jail in Jackson, California. The new 14,051 sq.ft. building will be a stand-alone building next to the mail jail and will provide two, 20-bed maximum security housing pods, programming and treatment space, a safety cell, respiratory isolation cell, recreation yard, central control, medical exam room, dental exam room, program/group rooms, an interview room, office space, covered exterior circulation and a storage basement. A covered and fenced pathway will connect the new building to the existing jail. Site improvements are included that expand the parking capacity for Jail and Sheriff’s Department staff. The most significant challenge the N&L team faced was how to build the new housing unit at the same elevation when the available land for development sloped significantly away from the existing jail. Nacht & Lewis in collaboration with the structural engineer, CYS Structural Engineers, studied various structural alternatives that balanced the functional and budgetary requirements for the project. Prior to beginning design, Nacht & Lewis conducted a comprehensive needs assessment of the County’s only jail facility. The assessment included a Facility Condition Assessment, preparation of a jail population profile and population projections, architectural programming, conceptual planning and development of a comprehensive time-phased construction plan. In order to secure funding for the project, Amador County, Amador County Sheriff’s Department and N&L worked together to prepare the County’s SB 863 funding application. As a result, the County was awarded $17.1 million, the majority of the funding necessary for the expansion to be designed and constructed. Nacht & Lewis is currently under contract for Basic Services as the County’s Architect of Record (AOR). Project completion is slated for early 2020.

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