Over the years, Guilford County government has put a whole lot of work into the jail situation in Greensboro.

Twelve years ago, the county opened a completely new 1,000-plus bed jail and there have been many fixes to that facility ever since.

On the other hand, the High Point jail, which now houses many fewer inmates than it once did, fell so far down on the priority list that, seven years ago, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners seriously considered closing it down completely.

However, attorneys and many others in the justice system in that city enjoy the convenience of the facility at 507 E. Green Dr. in High Point and, it’s now clear that the jail in the county’s second largest city is here to stay. That became evident this week when the county put out bids for a major repair project – the detention facility is going to get a new roof and the county is now seeking companies willing to bid on the project.

Bids will be accepted at the Guilford County Purchasing Department in the basement of the Greene Street Building at 201 South Greene Street in Greensboro, until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, April 9.

Immediately after that, those bids will be publicly opened and read to decide who gets to do the roof replacement at the High Point Detention Center.

The county jail in High Point has had some issues over the years. In one famous instance, it was discovered that there were no bars on the windows after some enterprising inmates escaped by using makeshift tools to remove a cell window and crawl out into the world.

That problem has since been fixed, but now the inmates held in that facility need a solid roof over their heads.

A non-mandatory pre-proposal ZoomGov meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 19  at 10 a.m. regarding the project.

Also, a non-mandatory site walkthrough will be held on Wednesday, March 20, at 2 p.m.

If you’re in the business of putting new roofs on jails, the bidding documents, drawings and specifications are available for viewing on Guilford County’s vendor self-service automated bidding system at: https://guilfordcountync.munisselfservice.com.

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