County : Board Acts to Hasten Work on Proposed Jail

In an effort to speed up the process of building a new jail in Anaheim, the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday ordered that negotiations begin with three firms to prepare a development report on the controversial project.

Normally the county would pick one of three architectural and engineering firms bidding to prepare the report, which is required before actual design or architectural work is done on a site.

But because of “tight time restraints,” the supervisors decided to choose the three firms already working on the Intake and Release Center, which is under construction next to the main men’s jail in Santa Ana.

A report by the county General Services Agency said the proposed jail, which is to be half a mile from Anaheim Stadium, would use the same basic blueprint as the 384-bed Intake and Release Center, with modifications to handle 1,500 inmates.

The supervisors agreed to negotiations with Hellmuth Obata & Kassabaum and Ficker & Ruffing, as architects; Omni-Group for jail programming and staffing, and Kitchell CEM for programming, estimating and scheduling.

Supervisor Ralph B. Clark, whose district includes Anaheim and who has bitterly opposed the site since the supervisors picked it last March 18, voted against negotiations.

The supervisors picked the Anaheim site from a list of county-owned properties in an effort to hasten construction of a new jail after a federal judge found the county in contempt because of overcrowding in the main jail.