Both Jails Permanently Shutting Down in Erie County
Erie County is gearing up to shut down both jails here. The plan was announced yesterday by Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz during his address.
The idea is to make one new jail that combines the downtown holding center and correctional facility in Alden under one roof in the City of Buffalo. Officials say that this will be a good 'investment' for Erie County citing that it will be more efficient, use less payroll and be beneficial for inmates. In addition, the buildings are outdated.
Erie County Sheriff Garcia says that the new facility will have 1,500 beds and is hopefully completed in 5 years.
Poloncarz announced that there will be $2.5 million allocated for site acquisition.
Finally, we’re going to step into the 21st century from the 1930s. Both jails are going to be shut down and we’re going to have one jail. No more duplication of services, no more waste on two jails, and cut back on some costs for staff. So, the taxpayers are going to recoup the cost of this facility in, I would say, about ten years", Erie County Sheriff Garcia told Tara Lynch of WIVB.
Here is where the story kind of gets interesting. Erie County mentions that they are looking at the Buffalo Grand Hotel, the former Adam's Mark Hotel has a new location for the combined jail.
The problem is nobody told the owner anything about this.
Ironically, the owner of the Buffalo Grand Hotel knew nothing about any offer. Owner Harry Stinson said that he is not actively selling nor has heard anything about Erie County potentially buying his hotel. In fact, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said this during his address yesterday afternoon, and the news calling Stinson is the first time that he even heard anything about such a thing.