County charges full speed into another prison folly
Whoa boys, slow down a minute. What’s with the mad dash to get started adding to the prison when the new annex isn’t even up and running? At a recent Fayette County Prison Board meeting, Commissioner Vince Vicites said it’s time now to forge ahead with the next phase by constructing a four-story building next to the century-old prison. Architect Michael Molnar envisions a building that will last, think about this, for the next 200 years. That will be two full centuries for future residents to wonder at the stupidity of erecting a penal institution trapped on a postage-stamp parcel, smack dab in the middle of Uniontown’s business district.
Again in the fray of all this is Molnar asking for authorization to drill test holes on site to begin the necessary engineering. Molnar cautions this project will be expensive but won’t have any figures to throw out before fall at the earliest, which will make it again one of those bottomless pit projects the commissioners seem to fall into.
The commissioners need to stop and consider the recent mess they created with the Mental Health/Mental Retardation building project. Molnar was first authorized to design a third floor for the existing building and then at the last minute hired – without opening the job up to proposals from other firms – to design a new building because he already had money tied up in the job.
This leap then look style of governing is costly.
The commissioners need only to review the minimum security annex. Just now, many months behind schedule and lots of bucks over budget, is the county readying to open the annex that will alleviate overcrowding at the prison and reduce the $40,000 month bill Fayette pays to house prisoners in neighboring counties.
We have never questioned the county’s need to address the decaying prison. In fact we led the charge in urging commissioners early on to deal with the overcrowding and conditions that could possibly lead to litigation. But we believe as well that the commissioners have failed to fully explore the options. With the annex taking some of the pressure off, the commissioners now have the luxury of time to do so.