Community members voiced support for renovating the current Monroe County Jail in addition to the Curry building at the Collaborative Justice Project Working Subcommittee's meeting Thursday.
The subcommittee, tasked with recommending a new jail site, also decided how it will proceed before its final vote Monday.
Five sites — Tapp Road North, Tapp Road South, Thomson, Fullerton and the option to renovate the jail with the Curry building — are still in consideration.
City council attorney Larry Allen said a jail renovation in addition to the Curry building could provide enough space to meet square footage requirements.
Bloomington Redevelopment Commission member Randy Cassady said access to transportation services should be at the forefront of evaluating potential jail sites.
“Co-location in a near downtown area tends to keep the vibrancy, and it also keeps the health and safety of the population of the jail as they're being released, they have services, they have places to go,” he said.
Resident Zach Ammerman, said renovating the current jail and including the Curry building is the “clear standout."
“The four other sites to me have all of the same problems as North Park,” he said.
Some residents pushed back on claims that the new jail must be single-floor or co-located since neither is included in conditions the ACLU has raised in its anticipated lawsuit against the county.
County resident Cathleen Paquet said cities of Bloomington's size typically build multistory jails.
"The idea that single story is somehow a requirement is just not accurate, and I really wish people would just stop talking about it like it is,” she said.
County commissioner Jody Madeira said during public comment that debates over a single story or multistory jail are reduced to efficiency and cost.
“If we build a facility around outdated assumptions, poor visibility, excessive hardening, stacked housing, and inefficient circulation, well, we're going to live with those consequences for generations,” she said.
The county commissioners declined a formal role in the subcommittee.
Each member will bring a ranked list of properties to the subcommittee’s next meeting Monday when they are scheduled to vote to recommend a property.
