After nearly four years of meticulous planning, intensive work, one self-proposed delay, and a worldwide pandemic, the Ribbon Cutting for the addition to the Grayson County Detention Center was held on Wednesday among sunshine, dignitaries and difference-makers.
The Star of the Show
While multiple contracting companies, an architecture firm, Grayson County Fiscal Court, Grayson County Judge-Executive Kevin Henderson, former Grayson County Attorney Clay Ratley and current Grayson County Attorney Jeremy Logsdon, all played major roles in seeing the $14 million project to completion, on Wednesday the star of the show was clearly Grayson County Jailer Jason Woosley.
“Jason first came to me when I became judge in 2017 and pitched this idea and I thought it was a great idea,” Henderson said at the Ribbon Cutting. “As I went through the training opportunities (after becoming judge-executive) with all the 119 other judge-executives in the state, everything that I heard were complaints about their jails, their jails, their jails. I was the only judge in the whole place, out of 120 of us, that said we’ve got the best the jail anywhere in the state.”
That was not merely lip service or bravado Henderson was offering his peers, he genuinely believes his assertion that Grayson County is home to the best jail in Kentucky. The U.S. Marshals Service, which had representatives in attendance at the Ribbon Cutting, also deems the Grayson County Detention Center (GCDC) the top-of-the-line detention facility in Kentucky, as the federal law enforcement agency utilizes the GCDC to house hundreds of federal inmates every year.
“And we do have the best jail anywhere in the state,” Henderson stated. “(It’s the only financially) self-sustaining jail in the state; we’ve got the best jailer in the state; and we’ve got the best jail staff in the state. And the reason … when jails start to go bad, they call this guy (Woosley) and ask him how to straighten them up. And it’s his staff that go and straighten them up. And that’s happened numerous times.”
The Project
It was Woosley who said in November 2018 — after the state approved the expansion in August 2017, and following multiple bids being received that were all millions of dollars more than anticipated — that he did not want to rush the massive undertaking but instead wanted to place the wide-ranging project on hold.
Woosley didn’t panic, the jailer and his staff (marshaled by Chief Deputy Jailer Bo Thorpe) simply took a deep breath and went back to work and eliminated what they deemed to be non-essential portions of the project.
In February 2019, the project evaluation and retooling were complete, and resulted in the new construction coming in at 33,000 square feet instead of the original 43,600 square feet, and lowered the cost of the venture from around $20 million to about $14 million (of which no local tax dollars are being spent).
Woosley also saved approximately $300,000 by utilizing inmate labor to complete resilient and resinous flooring work, as the new construction bids were approved by Fiscal Court in May 2019, with groundbreaking for the expansion held soon after.
The 33,000 square feet addition adds 199 beds (giving the facility over 750 total beds), segregation cells, a new intake/booking area, laundry, medical and office space, as well as public entry and visitation spaces to what was already the most outstanding detention facility in the commonwealth. Additionally, the addition has added between 20 and 25 new position to the jail staff.
“It’s a great feat for us to get this accomplished,” Woosley beamed at the Ribbon Cutting. “I want to thank my family first for supporting me. I know I’ve been a bear probably for two solid years to deal with, (but) they’re always behind me and support me 100 percent. And second, I want to thank all the staff that are out here with us today and all those that couldn’t be with us today. Without you guys we can’t do what we do. Also, Fiscal Court, it’s great to have such support from Fiscal Court. We work so well together and that’s a blessing. It makes our jobs 100 percent easier.”
Woosley was also effusive in his praise of the citizens of Grayson County for the community’s support for the project, and the architecture and construction firms that played major roles in the timely and nearly trouble-free completion of the expansion amid a pandemic and numerous weather-related delays.
“I want to thank the public because everybody supports this facility, greatly,” Woosley said. “It’s a plus for the county and a plus for us here at the facility. … I can’t say enough about DLZ, the architect (firm). They’ve been involved the entire time; very helpful, very knowledgeable in what they do. Codell (Construction Company), the construction manager is top notch … Everything has went as good as we could have planned it to go, if you take COVID and put it aside. It’s taken a little longer than expected because of COVID … (but) overall the project has went well.”
That would likely be an understatement, as Henderson added, “It’s a remarkable facility, (the project) went sort of flawlessly, actually.”
The jail addition has a final inspection scheduled for Friday, with jail personnel expecting to begin moving female inmates into the new facility from their current location on East White Oak Street, upon completion of the inspection.
(Headline photo: Jailer Jason Woosley speaking at Wednesday’s Ribbon Cutting ceremony)
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
K105 Digital Production’s broadcast of the Ribbon Cutting ceremony:
