$7 million county jail budget may not have room for much in the way of brickwork

LACONIA — The exterior of a proposed Belknap County community corrections facility will likely have some brick work near the entryway but how much more brick will be used remains up in the air.

''Brick would look better,'' County Administrator Deb Shackett said in response to a question about exterior materials from Project Manager Anthony Mento of SMP Architecture, the architectural firm which is designing the facility.

Shackett said at yesterday afternoon's meeting of the facility's planning committee that having brick would show that the new structure was ''not just another part of the old jail.''

The committee will have to wait until cost estimates are available for other parts of the plan before determining how much brick it will be able to afford and still stay within the $7 million limit advocated by County Commission Chairman Dave DeVoy.

There was also some discussion of removing an old barn near the driveway which provides access to the current House of Corrections. The barn, which was once a part of the farming operations at the county facility and is now used for storage, has been described as an ''eyesore".'

County Corrections Interim Superintendent Keith Gray says he has discussed the old barn with County Sheriff Craig Wiggin, who has no objection to its removal.

A final determination on the barn's fate will await cost estimates as the structure is not in the way of the footprint of the proposed 17,025-square-foot, 64-bed facility, which will be built as a one-story wood-frame structure.

SMP President Eric Palson displayed an updated plan for the facility, which he said had made it ''longer and skinnier'' and tightened up the configuration.

The plan shows gabled roofs for the entryways with clerestory ceilings allowing natural light to enter the hallways.

Public access to the corrections facility would be through a south-facing, covered entry which would be reached from a parking lot located off from the current driveway to the Belknap County complex. The proposed site plan also contains a separate entry road into the county complex for service vehicles only, near Lexington Drive, which would separate public traffic from service vehicles for a better traffic flow.

A sallyport (secure drive-through) will be connect the proposed new facility with the current jail.

The committee will hold a video conference meeting on the proposal on July 21 at 9 a.m. and will present the plan to the Belknap County Commissioners at 10 a.m. on July 22.