Beat the clock
More spacious Shreveport jail opens ahead of schedule

By Martin Schwartz

When Walton Construction handed over the keys to the new Shreveport City Jail in October, it did so within budget and two months ahead of schedule. The feat was accomplished despite the loss of five weeks of work due to more than 13 in. of rain and unforeseen underground obstructions.

Barclay Pittman, vice president and division manager of Walton Construction of Shreveport, said Shreveport needed the new facility in operation as soon as possible because the city's prior jail facility was more than 50 years old and needed replacing.

Pittman said the crew was able to complete the job on time and on budget without extensive overtime.

"We averaged eight-hour days," he added. "It's an old cliché, but everyone's ability to roll up their sleeves and get after it during the eight-hour period is what makes something like this happen."

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Shreveport Mayor Keith Hightower had placed the new jail facility at the top of his political "to do" list, and a bond issue to build the jail was approved by voters in July 2001.

The new $8 million, 46,000-sq.-ft. jail doubled the city's ability to house prisoners. The jail can hold 219 inmates without adding any additional staffing. The number can grow as needed to a maximum of 400 inmates without adding a single brick to the structure.

Shortly after groundbreaking, the Walton crew had to dig up several trees and old foundations to make way for the new jail.

The basement of an historic school proved particularly difficult. Built in 1889, Hope High School was the first high school in Shreveport and closed in 1915 when a fire damaged the structure beyond repair. The building had long since been razed, but the basement remained.

"We uncovered thousands of bricks," Pittman said. "There were some brick footings - they pyramided it back then - that were so big that a bulldozer would not push them out of there."

The creation of the building pad took six weeks, with the contractor placing dirt in 6-in. lifts to maintain compaction. The building's foundation consists of 282 drilled shafts to depths of 14 to 18 ft. and diameters of 18 to 36 in. Approximately .75-mi. of grade beams completed the foundation.

The jail's walls are made of concrete block filled with concrete and reinforced with steel every 8 in. around the perimeter.

Though many specific features have not been disclosed, security is achieved through an innovative design developed by Grace and Hebert Architects Inc. of Baton Rouge in partnership with Capt. Glenn Schach, who oversaw every aspect of the jail's development.

Schach gave the architect most of the credit for the final results.

"I'm very impressed - and I'm not easily impressed," he said. "If I was going to do another one, I wouldn't have anyone else."

Pittman called the jail "the most modern facility in Louisiana. Bayou Dorcheat (Correctional Facility in Webster Parish) is similar to this in ways, but Glenn has put together several different concepts."

Those concepts include:

• Closed circuit television cameras to monitor inmate movement
  
• A "passive waiting room," where arrested individuals awaiting bonding can be housed without being assigned a cell.
  
• Video visitation where inmates and visitors can communicate using a monitor and phone.
  
• Video arraignment allowing inmates to appear before a judge without leaving the facility.

"This jail is tailored exactly to his (Schach's) design to make this a safe place, not only for the guards and police, but for the inmates as well," Pittman said.

There are 35 cells for higher-risk inmates, five dorms for minimum-security prisoners and one padded room for inmates requiring physical restraint. Each cell has a ceiling made of 8 in. of concrete.

The jail also features a state-of-the-art touch-screen computer system that controls everything from the heating and air conditioning to the electricity to individual plumbing functions.

A special 24-ft. by 72-ft. emergency exhaust duct can quickly vent the dorms should chemicals be needed to resolve a security issue.

Windows in the lobby area are standard safety glass but in more secure areas are made of 15/16-inch bulletproof glass constructed of layers of projectile-dampening lamination.

Eight administrative offices feature office furniture created by prisoners at Angola State Penitentiary.

The single-story building achieves its street aesthetics with a brick veneer over the block walls, allowing a 2-in. air space between brick and block. A standard quarry tile entryway ushers visitors in the front door.

Pittman said this is the first jail project he has been involved with in Shreveport, but he hopes similar projects will be forthcoming.

"So much of this work is earned on a hard-bid mentality - we have to go out and get the right subcontractors and be the low bidder on bid day in order to be awarded the project," he added. "It's a city-funded project, so you can't just say you want to do it and cut a deal with somebody."

In opening ceremonies, Shreveport Chief of Police Mike Campbell said he hopes the new jail will serve as a warning to criminals.

"Now is the time to settle your accounts," Campbell said. "We now have a place for you. And we intend to use it to the maximum."

Useful Source:

For more information about the jail's history and purpose, go to: http://www.ci.shreveport.la.us/dept/police/101104.Jail%20Dedication%2010-13-04.htm