COLUSA, CA (MPG) – Bulldozers and backhoes moving ground for the construction on the new Colusa County Detention and Treatment Center on Bridge Street were silenced for a few minutes last Thursday for a short ceremony to celebrate the long-awaited project.
The expansion project got underway Aug. 12.
Colusa County Sheriff Joe Garofalo said efforts to build the new two-story facility started in August 2013 with an assessment that the original 98-bed jail built in 1962 – when open-bar front cells and dormitories were the norm – did not provide appropriate housing to accommodate all individuals incarcerated, particularly those with medical or mental health issues.
Two years later, after Senate Bill 863, also known as the Adult Local Criminal Justice Facilities Construction program, began dispersing millions of dollars in state lease-revenue bonds to finance jail acquisition or jail construction projects, county officials knew they would stand a good chance at receiving enough money to cover the cost of construction.
That was then – this is now.
While the state remained committed to funding $20 million of the project since awarding the grant in 2016, inflation in construction costs has added another $15 million to the price.
“During those eight years, there were significant delays, challenges, and hurdles,” Garofalo said.
The new 96-bed facility will be just over 19,000 square feet and include a variety of program and treatment rooms, new medical and dental clinics, a safety cell, respiratory isolation cell, and a new retherm kitchen.
Despite increased costs and difficulties with the project – mostly bureaucratic processes, title and utility issues, insurance, and the state’s slowdown of most functions during the COVID-19 pandemic – Assistant Sheriff Michael Bradwell, who took the lead mid-project in 2019, never lost focus on the goal.
“With any project, there are hurdles you are going to come across,” Bradwell said. “It’s a matter of seeing that hurdle, identifying it, and moving past it and not giving up. No matter what, you just push through and find a way to mitigate the issue and keep moving toward getting a final project that fits the needs of our community.”
Garofalo said Bradwell has done a phenomenal job getting the project to where it is today.
“He’s kept this project moving forward, effectively managing the personnel and different personalities involved, which we all know can be a challenge in and of itself.”
The Colusa County Detention and Treatment Facility will be adjacent to and integrated with the existing facility, with the additional space primarily dedicated to accommodating inmates with special medical or mental health needs. Officials believe about 30 percent of inmates housed in detention facilities have mental or substance abuse issues that, as a result, lead to a high recidivism rate after release.
Representatives from Broward Builders, Vanir Construction Management, and Clark/Sullivan Construction, all partners in the project, joined Garofalo, Colusa County Chief Administrative Officer Wendy Tyler, and the Colusa County Board of Supervisors in the ceremonial groundbreaking by donning hard hats and turning over the earth with gold-colored shovels.
“To me, this is really an exciting day,” Tyler said. “It has been a long hard fight to get here, and it’s the first capital building project the county has done since the Behavioral Health building in 2003.”
Tyler said the project was truly a group effort and thanked PG&E, the City of Colusa, Colusa County Community Development, and all partners in the project.
In addition to meeting the needs of those incarcerated, the new detention facility, which is expected to be completed in the spring of 2026, will pro-vide better security and safety to the people who work in the ever-changing environment of the criminal justice system, which is far different today than when the jail was built more than 60 years ago, officials said.
“That is one of the things that is most important to me,” Tyler said.
Colusa County native, Jerry Avalos, president of Vanir Construction Management, said he was honored to be part of a shared vision among the project’s partners and their commitment to excellence.
Avalos said Vanir has been involved in the construction of 58 jail projects in 36 California counties.