When renovations are complete, the Madison County Sheriff’s Office will literally move to a new campus at 317 Denmark Jackson Road – the former home of West Middle School.
“Were looking at one-and-a-half-to-two-months,” said John Mehr, Sheriff of Madison County. “Our training center will be here, and it will be more efficient and save taxpayers money.
“In our old building, we (are) crammed in, and here, we (will) have room to grow. Also, everything is on one floor.”
Mehr said the existing facility at 546 East College Street, offers about 30,000-square-feet, which pales in comparison to the 170,000-square feet in the new location.
“The 170,000 square feet is not all workable space,” Mehr said. “We will use some for storage, and you still have the gymnasium and dressing rooms, cafeteria and kitchen. The cafeteria and kitchen will be used occasionally when we have conferences for training.
“We want to accomplish a mission to save the taxpayers of Madison County a tremendous amount of money.”
Inmates – or offenders – are doing the majority of the build-out which will save taxpayers of Madison County even more money.
“This is me me basic fundamentals of carpentry,” said Keenan McNeal, an inmate. “This is a great experience and a challenge every day. (Before this) I could barely screw a light bulb in. This is very self-rewarding.”
The effort is a partnership between the the Department of Corrections, the Tennessee College of Applied Technology, the Madison County Fire Department, Carrier Heating & Air Conditioning and the Madison County Sheriff’s Department.
“Sheriff Mehr and his crew have done an outstanding job allowing these inmates to come over and work on this project,” Gary Taylor, president of Gary A. Taylor Investment Company said. “I’ve had the priviledge to meet some of the inmates, but more importantly, I’m impressed with the quality of workmanship that these guys have been able to do.
“This is a great thing for our community to give these men a second chance in life, and I really appreciate John’s leadership and these men willing to come out and use their time and effort to learn a new skill.”
The cost of the materials is estimated at $350,000, a figure Taylor said would easily hit the one-million dollar mark if the former facility had been renovated.
(PHOTO: Gary Taylor, president of Gary A. Taylor Investment Company and Madison County Sheriff John Mehr)
David Thomas, Twitter– @DavidThomasWNWS
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