JANESVILLE, Wis. – After spending a portion of 2020 working with outside consultants, the Rock County Sheriff’s Office presented the county board with renovation recommendations Thursday night.
The renovations, which come with a $116 million price tag, center around the “Pinehurst Building”, one of several buildings on the Sheriff’s Office campus.
Originally built in 1929 as a Tuberculosis Sanitarium, the Pinehurst building currently serves as part of the Rock County Jail, but also is home to administrative offices as well as the law enforcement services bureau.
“This has been a very lengthy process that has gotten us to this point,” said Rock County Sheriff Troy Knudson. “(The consultant) came in last spring. They met with a number of staff members and kind of decided what sort of needs we had based on what we’re trying to accomplish right now. That’s the study that was turned over the county board last night.”
The study recommends tearing down the Pinehurst building and building new in its place.
“We have done very well to last as long as we have in this facility that we have here,” Knudson said. “It is definitely time to see it be replaced.”
Knudson said his biggest concerns are structural, with portions of the building beginning to crack and crumble.
“As I’m down in the basement area of this facility, the actual structure is starting to crumble and that to me seems to be the biggest concern,” he said. “We have an office down there that’s had water incursion problems every time it rains. It seems like every time it rains, water builds up on the floor.”
In addition, he said utilities like heating and electric cost more because the building is outdated. While the price tag for a new building is large, he said over time, money saved would help mitigate the costs.
Knudson said the plans and suggestions made by the consultant could change over time, but he’s hopeful to see progress made on the project within 2021.
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