Architectural firm hired to design jail expansion

Spokane County commissioners tentatively have selected a Spokane architectural firm to help them prepare a bond measure for a new low- and medium-security jail.

Commissioners adopted a Sheriff’s Office recommendation last week to hire Integrus Architecture to develop a plan for the jail project, to help officials choose a site and to direct a public relations campaign.

County representatives now will negotiate a contract proposal for presentation to commissioners in mid-September.

Other finalists among eight companies competing for the job were the Seattle office of DLR Group, ranked second, and RicciGreene Associates of New York.

Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Sparber, head of the sheriff’s jail expansion committee, said estimated cost of the work is $250,000 to $300,000. That doesn’t include development of detailed construction plans, for which county officials again will ask architectural companies to submit their qualifications for review.

Sparber said plans call for the preliminary work by Integrus to be completed by next July so a bond measure could be put before voters in November 2008.

The project is intended to complement the county’s existing high-security jail with a low- and medium-security facility that would replace Geiger Corrections Center and provide additional capacity, Sparber said.

The county has lost its lease on the Geiger Corrections Center and must vacate the World War II-era barracks in the Spokane International Airport business park by 2013.