First Phase of Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office

Kitchen/Warehouse Building Set for Completion in 2012

The first phase of the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office’s new correctional complex, a 163,885-square-foot kitchen/warehouse facility, recently topped out in New Orleans, Louisiana. Construction of the three-story building represents a significant step forward in the parish’s development program under its Justice Facilities Master Plan, created with the support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The Orleans Parish experienced severe damage to its court, law enforcement, and jail facilities during Hurricane Katrina, which flooded many of the buildings with several feet of water. Nearly all of the jail structures were damaged or destroyed, requiring several temporary and short-term initiatives to return the jails to operation. Sheriff Marlin Gusman and parish officials then began working with FEMA to plan a long-term rebuilding solution for justice facilities that would allow the parish to sustain operations in the event of future storms.

“In the face of extreme devastation, the Orleans Parish worked closely with the city, the courts, and the police department to not only develop short-term solutions to meet the community’s needs, but to create a vision for a safer and more secure future,” says Ron Budzinski, FAIA, a senior principal with Dewberry. Budzinski began working with the Sheriff’s Office shortly after the hurricane on behalf of FEMA and served as the agency’s Ombudsman for the Justice Facilities Master Plan. Budzinski adds, “The energy and commitment of all involved, while under such challenging circumstances both personally and professionally after the storm, were inspiring and uplifting.”

The kitchen/warehouse facility will enable the staff to prepare more than 25,000 meals in a 12- to 14-hour period. A central power plant, also under construction, will generate eight mega-watts of emergency generator power, and will have 6,500 tons of cooling capacity. The team for the project includes Woodward Design-Build, Sizeler Thompson Brown Architects, Grace & Herbert Architects, and Billes Architecture. OMK, a joint venture of Ozanne Construction, Montgomery Watson Harza, and Kwame Building Group, Inc., is providing project management.

The first phase of the correctional complex is anticipated to be complete in 2012. Phase 2 will begin bidding in several months and will include a new inmate housing structure with 1,438 beds, a new permanent intake and processing center, and administrative facilities.

Ron Budzinski (left) and Sheriff Marlin Gusman attend the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office topping off ceremony.

corrections • architecture • police • justice • criminal justice