Official jail groundbreaking held

Members of the Blue Ridge Regional Jail Authority, along with a number of local officials, gathered Friday for the official groundbreaking of the Amherst County Adult Detention Center in Madison Heights.

“Today is a proud day in Central Virginia,” said Blue Ridge Regional Jail Authority administrator Elton Blackstock, before grabbing a shovel and scooping up a pile of dirt.

Campbell County’s public works director, Clif Tweedy, was among the speakers voicing enthusiasm for the project at Friday’s groundbreaking.

“This facility is another step forward in this region and authority,” he said, adding that he thought collaborative projects were “the best way to allow this area to prosper.”

The new facility, administered by the Blue Ridge Regional Jail Authority, will replace existing Amherst and Appomattox jails and an inmate camp in Moneta currently operated by the authority.

In September, the authority accepted a $33.3 million bid from the Fairfax-based HITT Contracting Inc. to build the facility.

It will be located on a 23.5-acre tract off the Virginia 210 connector near the U.S. 29 by-pass and the James River.

The low contract bid reduced costs by $13 million, Blackstock said, for an overall project total of $51 million.

The 380-bed facility will hold minimum, medium and maximum-security male and female inmates — mostly pretrial inmates from the counties of Amherst and Appomattox and already-sentenced inmates from member jurisdictions.

The facility will include a kitchen, medical and laundry areas and space for recreation and other programs. Office space and a training room will be lo-cated outside the secure area.

Officials have said the center will be built to conform with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system for new construction.

Leon Parrish, chairman of the Amherst County Board of Supervisors, also spoke Friday, saying he would have preferred a school but “the need warrants a detention facility.”

The state has agreed to pay for half of the eligible cost of construction.

Each of the member localities recently approved the authority’s resolution to pay for the remaining portion through bonds issued by the Virginia Resources Authority, Blackstock said.

The groundbreaking follows state budget analyst Paul Van Lenten Jr.’s testimony this week to the House Appropriations Committee that future prison building projects be delayed in light of the state’s budget shortfall.

The project is set to be complete in 2011.