Lee County looks to move forward with repurposing old jail

DIXON - The county is looking to move forward with plans to repurpose the old Lee County Jail.

The plan for the 50-year-old jail includes moving the maintenance department to the first floor of the jail. It also calls for providing space for storage, stripping out the second-floor jail cells, creating a secured parking lot for judges and building a sally port and holding cells for transferring inmates awaiting court at the adjacent Lee County Courts Building.

The county needs professional engineering designs before it can go to bid for the work and create a budget for the cost. Board members are looking to approve up to $30,000 in engineering costs from Wendler Engineering Services, County Board Vice Chairman John Nicholson said during Tuesday’s properties, planning and zoning committee meeting.

The project would meet the goal of putting the maintenance department under one roof, creating storage that the county desperately needs, board member Tom Wilson said.

It would also “beef up” security with the sally port and for transporting inmates to the Lee County Courts Building for court, he said.

The next steps will be to finalize designs and later go out to bid for the work.

Demolishing the old Lee County jail at 122 W. Third St. has been on the county’s radar for the last few years, and plans were delayed to focus on building the new Lee County Law Enforcement Center at 240 E. Progress Drive, which was completed in 2019. The old building has several issues and failed to meet state jail standards for many years.

Last year, the county submitted its application for a $5 million state grant to demolish the old jail and construct a new building and then pursued another state grant to cover demolition and a retaining wall for around $1 million, both without success.