Tearing down a large sturdy old jail and building a new Sheriff’s Department headquarters is no easy task, but Guilford County government is having to do that job twice since there was a severe falling out between Guilford County government and Samet Corp. – the company the county originally hired to complete the three-phase project. After Samet finished most of the first phase of the project – prepping the old jail in downtown Greensboro for demolition – the county now has to find a company to complete the job.
One question is how long it will take to get the project underway again.
Guilford County Commissioner James Upchurch said that, currently, those arrangements are going on at the staff level, and he added that the commissioners haven’t heard an update or been asked to make any decisions on the matter.
“We haven’t even talked about it,” Upchurch said of the commissioners. “We’re just ready to start the project all over again.”
One county official who’s no doubt frustrated is Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers. For years, Rogers complained that the county was dragging its feet on the needed new facility and, even if Samet had continued as the Construction Manager at Risk, the job would have taken until mid-2024.
Questions to county staff did not provide much clarity as to when the project will be rebid. Julie Smith, Guilford County’s communications and public relations director, told the Rhino Times that no date has been set.
“The county is moving forward with the work necessary to re-start the competitive selection process and expects to re-bid the remaining project work in the spring,” she said.
Spring ends this year on Wednesday, June 21. She added that the work remaining on the project includes “completion of the demolition of the old jail site, construction of the new Law Enforcement Center, and demolition of the Otto Zenke Building, which currently houses the Sheriff’s Office administrative functions.”
They hope? I hope they will stop wasting tax dollars. I hope voters will wake up and have them voted out.
Don’t forget those MWBE companies Ms.Bigot Hightower is so fond of. Finding them will add another year or two to the project and our Sheriff will just have to be patient.
Tearing down a large sturdy old jail. – Makes no sense
Why? Turn it into a year round homeless shelter with all sorts of Departments that can assist the homeless (Mental Health, Salvation Army, Job skills, etc. etc. etc…….That way they dont have to put them in the 8 x 8 shacks on the ball field, which now its spring, so kick them out and store the shacks until winter.
Guilford County is going to spend over $23 million to tear it down. Spend less than $10 million to turn it into something positive and solve our homeless problem.
If the D.A. would do his job, this sturdy old jail can house lots of criminals in the County.
There is NO need to tear this down and lavish mucho dinero on another one that the County will not maintain, either.
After the commissioners treated Samet the way they did they will probably have a long row to hoe before they find another company to do the job. It will probably have to be some company from out of state and more than likely at a higher price tag than they had with Samet. All of this over women and minorities and now these folks who would have had a slice of the pie are left without anything. Oh, the irony!
Nawww….already have a negotiation underway with a new and upcoming company: SKIPS HOTDOG SHACK AND CONTRACTING !!
how old is the old jail ? looks newish. if it is less than 50 years old our ‘caretaking’ gov’t is inept so cut off their $$. no new hires until eradicated.
Naggers can ruin anything.
Contractors should boycott the county.
Nothing would say we’re fed up better than zero bids, zero participation, until they cancel the current racist MWBE practices. But with Democrats driving beans & taters, and gas & ass to all time highs, someone will bid on it.