Big jets roared overhead on their way to nearby Sea-Tac Airport once every seven minutes, jarring molars and rendering all attempts at conversation outside the walls of the new concrete and glass building momentarily futile.
Inside the structure things were different. There, 21st century technology and a blanket of soundproofing smothered the din of engines. Save for the footfalls of guards, inmates and the clanking shut of metal gates, all was quiet.
To borrow a saying, the South Correctional Entity (SCORE) — the new jail for misdemeanant inmates — might be interesting to visit, but one definitely wouldn’t want to live there.
Last week the cities that pooled their money to build the $98 million, 163,830-square-foot jail — Auburn, Renton, Tukwila, Federal Way, Seatac, Burien and host city Des Moines — got together to celebrate its opening, two years and a month from the Aug. 10, 2009, groundbreaking.
And perhaps to do a bit of told-you-so-ing, according to Director Penny Bartley.
“We had many naysayers; people told us that we could never do this, we could never build it on the time schedule we had, we could never build it for the budget we had,” Bartley said. “In fact, people told me a couple weeks ago, ‘You’ll never get that project completed.’ And here we are today.”
Seven years ago King County first notified South King County cities that they would have to build their own misdemeanant jail because the county would no longer accept inmates from the cities after 2012. The cities also had a jail contract with Yakima County, but the rising costs ultimately made that unsustainable. The cities took the problem seriously and began planning.
The cities transported their inmates to the jail Sept. 2, three weeks short of the construction completion date. As of the grand opening day, the project — still not completed — was more than $5 million under budget.
The facility bristles with new technology, including advanced security measures and a video court system that allows inmates to appear before a judge without leaving the jail, eliminating the expense of vehicle transport.
