A little more than two years ago, officials from the Lamar County Board of Supervisors made plans for substantial improvements to the Lamar County Law Enforcement Complex that would, in part, cut energy costs at that facility by up to 25 percent.
Those improvements, which amounted to approximately $5 million, are now complete at the jail itself and its administrative area. Work at the site includes a new roof and upgrades to the heating and cooling system, among other measures.
“It was just because of the age of the building,” Lamar County Administrator Jody Waits said. “It’s the cost of ownership – it was time to take care of some maintenance items.”
The work has taken place over the past couple of years and entailed several major renovations at the 23-year-old jail and its administrative facilities.
“We replaced several of the automatic doors, and pretty much all of the mechanisms that operate the doors,” Waits said. “Then we also completely renovated the heating and air conditioning system – replaced everything in it, so that it operates more balanced and efficiently.
“Both the jail and the administrative area will be much more comfortable, and quite a bit more efficient to save us money on our power bill.”
A new roof also has been installed on the jail building.
“We had a few leak in there, so we got that done and sealed up,” Waits said.
The $5 million was allocated through the American Rescue Plan Act, the $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill that was issued in 2021 by the federal government to help the nation recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
As part of the energy-saving measure, Lamar County officials in 2022 also approved improvements to the Gamble Chancery Courthouse, adjacent to the jail and the Lamar County Circuit Court. That work was performed by Schneider Electric, which began a partnership with the county back in 2016 when that company performed an emergency replacement of the chancery court’s chiller.
The improvements to the court and the jail are expected to save the county more than $1.5 million over 20 years.
“We’re really maximizing the lasting impact of today’s stimulus opportunities by investing in transformational renovations that will provide a guaranteed return on investment,” Waits said in a previous story. “This isn’t just a project; we are transitioning to a new way of operating through the technology, training and long-term partnership we are gaining through this endeavor.”
