ATMORE, Ala. — A state board on Thursday agreed to borrow almost $200 million to build a new 4,000-bed prison in Escambia County, pushing the total price tag for the project to $900 million.
The Alabama Corrections Institution Finance Authority’s decision increases the budget for the Escambia construction project from $700 million to $900 million, on top of the more than $1.25 billion spent to build another 4,000-bed prison in Elmore County.
Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, a member of the authority and the outgoing chair of the Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee, said the borrowing for the prison in Atmore was “a long time in coming, but we got it done.”
“The principal thing we are doing is we are starting the Atmore facility,” he said. “This allows us to actually move forward with the Escambia facility.”
A plan years in the making
The Alabama Legislature in 2021 approved a total of $1.3 billion to build two new prisons, which supporters said would be safer for inmates and correctional officers and would allow the Alabama Department of Corrections to shut down older facilities, saving the department money.
The process, however, has been rocky. The Elmore County prison, named the Gov. Kay Ivey Correctional Complex, has consumed nearly all of the money originally appropriated for the project, and lawmakers have not committed to shutting down any existing prison.
Corrections officials declined to comment on Thursday. The authority also approved a resolution covering the design, construction management and other services, along with a measure to advertise bids for construction of the Escambia prison.
Ownership questions and a major transfer
A third resolution approved the transfer of the Ivey complex from ADOC to the finance authority. That prison is scheduled to be completed in October.
“There is a small portion of land on which we have facilities where there is a question as to ownership or rights, so we are correcting that,” Albritton said.
The bond resolution allows investors to bid on a maximum total of $195 million. Investors will bid on the amount they want to invest and the interest rate they expect to earn, providing the money needed for the construction project.
Timeline and cost
Albritton said the first steps are securing investors for the bonds and receiving bids from contractors for construction. He anticipates the project will take about 30 months to complete once construction begins on the site, which is anticipated for October.
He expects the Escambia prison to cost less than the roughly $1.3 billion spent to build the Elmore facility.
“The Alabama Legislature, working with the Governor’s Office and ADOC and others, were able to search the sofa cushions to pull forth from areas that we needed to for a number of years,” he said. “There was some intentional penny-pinching along the way, and that is why we are where we are.”
Replacing beds, not adding them
According to materials provided by ADOC, the new prison construction will replace beds rather than add capacity. The Escambia prison is planned to be built in two parts. The first phase will cover 195 acres on property located next to Fountain Correctional Facility near Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, comprising more than 2,000 beds and 26 buildings.
“Ultimately Fountain will be demolished and removed from service in connection with the construction and opening of the new Escambia County facility,” according to a media sheet provided by ADOC at the meeting.
The Escambia project has been among the most anticipated pieces of Alabama’s prison construction program, which state leaders have framed as a response to longstanding problems with aging, overcrowded facilities. Whether the new prisons lead to the closures lawmakers once promised remains an open question in Montgomery.