Dallas Tucker, Ezarc Building Solutions laborer, works in the receiving and orientation building at the new Utah State Prison in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021
By Katie McKellar | @KatieMcKellar1 | Oct 28, 2021, 8:53pm MDT | Desert News
It’s been over four years since the new Utah State Prison’s groundbreaking.
Four years since state dignitaries — after years of controversy and public outrage over where it would eventually be built — sank gold-painted shovels into the ground of a remote, mosquito-riddled area in Salt Lake City’s west side, celebrating the beginnings of a new era of how Utah would treat its incarcerated.
That groundbreaking ceremony gave way to what would become one of the largest construction projects in Utah’s history — second to its (not so nearby) neighbor, about 9 miles to its east: the over $4 billion new Salt Lake City International Airport.
It’s also been coined one of the largest detention projects in the nation. The construction of a 1.3 million-square-foot, 170-acre expanse of correctional facilities of all security types, all the way up to maximum security. All from scratch, infrastructure included.
Utah’s prison was at one point the largest and most expensive detention project in the nation, but since its groundbreaking other larger projects have been set into motion, including New York City’s plans to spend nearly $9 billion to build a new jail system to replace the Rikers Island complex.
As for the price tag of the new Utah State Prison? Cost escalation has now brought it to about $1 billion.
That’s according to Jim Russell, director of Utah’s Division of Facilities Construction and Management, who noted the final cost of the new prison could come in “just a little bit under or a little bit over” $1 billion depending on final procurement processes.
And construction? It’s almost done.
“You’ll be absolutely shocked when you go out there,” Russell told the Deseret News ahead of a tour of the construction site last week.
The men’s general population building is pictured at the new Utah State Prison in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021.
Despite its massive scope, most Utahns likely don’t know the new Utah State Prison is nearing completion. It’s set so far north of I-80, its sprawling footprint is barely visible to drivers.
But the closer they get, visitors quickly realize the new Utah State Prison is no longer a concept that was at the center of a painful siting process and years of debate. Nor is it just a muddy construction site. It’s reality.
It’s a prison now.
All of the buildings are practically finished. The cells are all but inmate-ready. Inside each building — from the men’s and women’s general population facilities to the mental health and medical unit to maximum security areas — crews were working on finishing touches. Paint, trim, caulk.
Outside, workers were carefully placing the final stretches of about 10 miles of razor wire at the top of the secure perimeter’s chain-link fence. Some recreation yards even already have sod. In the works are basketball courts, volleyball courts and a mini running track.