At the end of its lifespan
Women's Centre to be replaced at Fort Smith Correctional Complex
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, February 2, 2015
THEBACHA/FORT SMITH
A replacement women's correctional centre is to be built in Fort Smith.
The existing Women's Centre at the Fort Smith Correctional Complex will be replaced by a new building, with construction expected to start this summer. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo |
A request for proposals to design and construct a new Women's Centre at the Fort Smith Correctional Complex issued by the Department of Public Works and Services closes on Feb. 13.
"We're hoping construction will start in July," said Shirley Kemeys Jones, the assistant deputy minister and solicitor general with the Department of Justice.
Construction is expected to be completed by the summer of 2017, she said, adding the new building will then be occupied.
"We're looking at October 2017 as being fully operational."
The existing Women's Centre started as a youth group home about 45 years ago.
"In 1990, they reopened it as the Territorial Women's Correctional Centre (TWCC)," said Kemeys Jones. "They did extensive renovations at the time."
Now, the Women's Centre, and an associated duplex, have been deemed out of date.
For one thing, the buildings are wooden structures, said Kemeys Jones.
"Correctional centres need to be of non-combustible materials. And they are getting older. I mean we've done really well with both those buildings. Lots of really, really good things have happened, but I think it would be a major capital investment even if we could bring them up to code for correctional facilities. So the decision was made a few years back that we need to build another facility."
The main building houses inmates, the administrative offices, the kitchen and program rooms. The duplex across Pickerel Street is sometimes used for programming and for inmates.
"If our numbers went up, then we could basically house people across the street, as well," said Kemeys Jones.
Only the main building is being replaced.
"It's at the end of its lifespan," said Kemeys Jones.
The new building will be constructed directly adjacent to the existing structure, which will then be torn down. Meanwhile, the duplex will be transferred to the housing inventory of the Department of Public Works and Services.
The existing Women's Centre has a minimum security rating, but the new facility will have a minimum/medium security rating.
Territorial and federal offenders, as well as remanded inmates, will continue to be held in the new facility.
"You can have a broad range of offences in a minimum and medium facility," said Kemeys Jones. "It's all the risk assessments that determine their placement."
From time to time, there is an inmate who has a higher need in terms of risk management, and right now that person would be taken off site, either to a jail or a facility in the south.
"The new building will allow us to continue to work with the person on site," she said.
Federal inmates have been accepted at the facility from the beginning.
"We have an agreement with Corrections Services Canada to house federal inmates, if it's appropriate considering the risk levels and the programming that can be offered," said Kemeys Jones. "It's done on an individual basis, so all the information is taken about that person, all the information is gathered."
Public safety is always a priority for any correctional facility, she said.
The existing facility has a maximum capacity of 22 inmates, and the new, larger building will have the same capacity, with the ability for expansion if required in the future.
One difference for the new facility will have a fence securing the perimeter.
The Town of Fort Smith is welcoming the new investment by the GNWT in the community.
"Clearly, it will be an economic benefit for the town to have it built," said deputy mayor Louis Sebert. "It's a commitment by the government to keep the women's jail here, I suppose, apart from anything else."
The new project will mean a number of benefits for the town.
"I'm not certain whether there will be more jobs, but I understand that there might be," said Sebert. "Clearly, it will make a difference to the construction industry around here."
Kemeys Jones said there are expected to be about 25 positions at the new facility, the same as at the existing Women's Centre.
She declined to discuss the expected cost because the project is in the request for proposals stage.
Unlike a possible controversy that construction of a correctional facility might generate in another community, no such thing is anticipated in Fort Smith.
"It's not really an issue," said Sebert, noting the community has trained staff to work in the new facility when it is built. "There have been facilities here for a long time."
Kemeys Jones also recognized the acceptance by the community.
"Fort Smith has been so supportive to the Women's Centre all these years and to the entire complex," she said. "It's something that we're going to continue with. It's still going to be a major part of the program, the connection with the community."
