‘Largest capital project in the state’s history’: Council puts brakes on new men’s prison in Concord

After a tense debate Wednesday, the New Hampshire Executive Council killed a nearly $36 million design contract for a new prison in Concord — a project that has been lingering on the state’s to-do list for years — over concerns that the Corrections Department and Public Works didn’t do enough to get the best deal.

Prior to their meeting, councilors took a tour of the current men’s prison in Concord, which was built in 1878, and all agreed it was falling into disrepair.

“There’s nothing like seeing the facility up close and personal,” Karen Liot Hill, the only Democrat on the council, said. “There’s nothing like hearing the stories of rats in the kitchen and maggots falling through the ceiling and seeing the tarps on the ceilings of the reception area. The conditions, quite honestly, are atrocious and the need is tremendous.”

Replacing it, Corrections Commissioner William Hart said, would likely be “the single largest capital project in the state’s history.”

And councilors expect the price will only rise the longer they wait, as inflationary and market factors set in. They expect that, when it’s completed, the total cost of the project could rise to $700 million or even $1 billion.

At the crux of councilors’ concerns Wednesday was that they didn’t feel the Corrections Department and Public Works did enough to find contractors willing to do the work for less. State officials told the council that only one contractor — Nebraska-based DLR Group, which is the same firm that received a roughly $10 million contract in 2024 to study the project site — bid. Officials said other contractors were likely scared away by the fact that New Hampshire has worked with DLR Group before and assumed that New Hampshire would pick them again. However, councilors grilled the state officials, arguing they should’ve proactively reached out to contractors from across the country and requested bids in an attempt to get the best deal.

“There could’ve been an RFI (request for information) to reach out to them,” Councilor John Stephen said. “There could’ve been a time for them to come in and show you what they’ve done in other states and really make sure that they all feel that New Hampshire is a real competitive landscape.”

Stephen argued more competition could’ve driven the price down. He said he thinks “we can get the state a better value than what is possibly $1 billion.” He now wants to see a new call for contractors, known formally as an RFP.

“I know you can get a better price,” he added. “I would hope that you can go out and absolutely get a list of all those vendors and go reach out to them.”

Councilors were also hesitant to approve the contract before DLR Group provided a report on preliminary plans and cost estimates.

In the end, the council voted to kill the contract over the objections of Liot Hill, who said they should table it for another time to avoid risking even further price increases.

Hart took councilors’ demands in stride, saying that pausing it could increase the price, but that if councilors want more transparency and outreach to vendors, he’ll comply.

“This is New Hampshire,” he said. “It needs to be an appropriately priced matter. That will be an important component of whatever it is we do.”