It took about 12 weeks to remove the 550 tons of concrete associated with the demolition of an elevator and stairwell running from a basement to four above-ground stories.

Sheriff Bob Barnard said because of the elevator’s location, removing it was the only way to create access between the existing jail and the new jail expansion.

“We looked at many, many options, because that was very expensive,” he said. However, the conclusion was there was no way around that elevator. It had to go. The elevator isn’t necessary due to other elevators that exist in the jail.

With the removal completed, construction crews now will be installing floors in that area, creating the walkways between the older and newer portions of the jail. The floors should be in place by the end of May, according to information provided to the Ward County Commission from project manager Adolfson & Peterson Tuesday.

Jill Schramm/MDN Workers are on the job of constructing a new booking area in the older portion of the Ward County Jail Tuesday.

Remodeling of the older jail portion accounts for roughly 15 percent of the cost of the $37 million jail expansion and improvement project.

The main floor is being remodeled with a new holding room and booking area off the sallyport. The floor will include an observation cell and a nook designed for a bondsman or an attorney to exchange information with an inmate.

The control room from which the entire jail will be monitored is part of that main floor reconstruction. Until it is completed – likely in mid-June – a temporary control room has been established on the upper level of the jail expansion.

Barnard said the new control room will not be a receiving area for jail visitors as has been the case in the past. That duty has been a distraction and extra burden on control room staff, he said. The new visitor window will be located in the booking area, and staff in that area will process visitors.

Remodeling also is occurring on the jail’s second floor, where the former sheriff’s office is being converted into jail administration offices.

Jill Schramm/MDN Construction of a medical room, part of a new three-room medical area in the jail, is coming along Tuesday.

A secure attorney-client visitation room will be located in the jail administration area. Barnard said attorney-client visitations now take place either in the laundry room or a multi-purpose room in the jail expansion. That dual use of space is typical of the practice that existed before the jail expansion was built, he said. Having a dedicated visitation room in the future will create a better situation, although the laundry room will continue to be used as a second visitation site, he said.

The jail also is using a multi-purpose room as its temporary medical headquarters. Medical facilities eventually will move back to the older portion of the jail, where former medical space is being enlarged and remodeled.

An added amenity for employees with the remodeling will be an employee room with lockers.

The jail expansion currently is housing all inmates. The jail housed 80 inmates Tuesday, with none in outside facilities. In the past, the county has paid to place a significant number of inmates in other facilities due to lack of local space.

Barnard said the capacity of the Ward County Detention Center currently is limited to 113. Remodeling has closed off the older jail, and the presence of the control room on the upper level of the jail expansion prevents use of that floor for housing inmates.

Once construction finishes, though, the center will have 289 beds throughout the facility. This is fewer than the 300 beds projected because of the decision to create more single-bunked cells for use in inmate observation, Barnard said. He added the county is negotiating a contract to accept federal prisoners during those times when extra beds are available.