Crews continue progress on Brookings County Detention Center project

BROOKINGS, S.D. (KELO) – A need for more space led to a renovation at the Brookings County Detention Center.

Progress on the Brookings County Jail project is moving along as crews work to put up walls.

“Currently we are on track with everything, we have walls coming in now, they’re pre-cast walls, and there’s actually some being set up today,” jail administrator, Bart Sweebe said. “We will continue to get those laid until they have the full exterior walls and the interior walls laid.”

Bart Sweebe says the goal is to have the addition to the jail completed by the end of September of 2021.

“Then we will use the month of October to get familiarized with the new facility, and then getting our inmates moved into the new facility and starting up our operations there,” Sweebe said. “Then in November they will start remodeling our current jail, so that will be gutted and remodeled with what we need for in those areas.”

Not only will this updated facility provide more space, but also additional features like a kitchen.

“We currently have our meals catered in and they bring those here three times a day so with a kitchen we will be able to save a lot of expense for meals, would all be fixed on site,” Sweebe said.

As well as a separate area for the 24/7 sobriety program and new cells.

“Our pod cells that we will have, which is new for us, right now we are built on a linear style where we have to walk into each cell area to actually see inside the cells, the pods are setup in a way so you can turn your body and look into the front of each of the pods,” Sweebe said.

The jail administrator estimates they should be finished putting up the walls within the next couple of weeks and then by April, they will start bringing in the detention cells. View the story on KELO.