Vigo County Jail demolition kicks off
By Rachel Law
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VIGO COUNTY, Ind. (WTHI) — Wednesday was a big day for Vigo County officials. It was the start of the old jail demolition.
Vigo County Commissioner Chris Switzer kicked off the jail demolition.
The demolition will take place over the next 60 to 90 days.
Once it’s completed, the area will become a green space and add more parking for the courthouse.
Switzer said, “We have a new maintenance plan for the new facility so hopefully it will last a lot longer. And because of all those underlying issues and not really a way to make this better, we just decided to ultimately knock it down and start over.”
The old jail had about 230 beds, while the new one has 505 beds. It was built to ease the large overcrowding Vigo County has been dealing with for years.
“We did just purchase 22 acres to the south of the Vigo County Jail in hopes of building a new rehabilitation and treatment facility,” said Switzer.
Switzer says there is a great need for dual diagnosis for mental health and substance use in the county jail system. Along with other county officials, Switzer is hopeful for the impact this treatment facility could bring.
“They’re met with a nurse, a psychiatrist, health insurance, I.D., birth certificate. All the things they need to get back into the workforce and then get some type of treatment program started to hopefully get them to a better life,” said Switzer.
Switzer shared that county officials will have more to share about the new vision for rehabilitation and treatment in the next 30 days.
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