REDWOOD CITY — San Mateo County leaders on Tuesday unveiled a new $165 million jail that could prove to be the sunniest, happiest, most productive lockup in all of California.
Supervisor Adrienne Tissier hailed the 832-bed facility as a model of “compassionate corrections.” The 257,000-square-foot jail features lots of natural light, a “Zen garden,” a computer lab, radiant floor heating and soothing images of California nature on the walls.
At a ceremony outside the gleaming three-story building, Sheriff Greg Munks touted the Maple Street Correctional Center as a symbol of a new era when it comes to housing and rehabilitating criminals.
“We’re not just here to cut the ribbon on a new building: Our more important task is to unveil a new approach to corrections in this county,” Munks told a crowd of more than 100 county officials and supporters. “For many years, we have struggled to maintain a correctional system that was overcrowded, lacked adequate programming space and did not provide equal opportunities to both male and female inmates.”
The energy-efficient facility replaces the current women’s jail, a cramped building that tends to flood in the winter. The county’s female inmates will move into the Maple Street jail March 19. Some of the county’s lower-risk male inmates will transfer to the new jail in April. Maximum-security male inmates will remain at the county’s main jail in downtown Redwood City, the Maguire Correctional Facility.
The design of the Maple Street jail, which sits on 4.8 acres in an industrial area east of Highway 101, is meant to lift the spirits of inmates, guards and visiting families, creating a better atmosphere for learning and job training, said Sam Lin, project manager for the county’s jail planning team.
“This facility has the most natural light of any jail in the state,” said Lin, who spent a couple years with Apple building out the company’s retail stores.
Banks of video monitors will allow more opportunities for families to “visit” inmates. A new waiting room for families has the kid-friendly vibe of a pediatrician’s office. There is a large teaching kitchen where inmates will be able to learn culinary skills.
Occupy Redwood City and others protested the new jail several years ago as construction began. They called the facility a waste of taxpayer money that could otherwise be spent on programs for low-income residents. In 2012, Tom Huening, then the county controller, argued that the county would be better served by sharing jail beds with surrounding counties.
Officials on Tuesday emphasized that the county’s existing facilities were inadequate and that the goal of the project was not to incarcerate more people but to provide better treatment to those already in the system and thereby reduce recidivism. Providing more opportunities for inmates to learn skills will allow for a “warm handoff back into the community,” Tissier said.
Tissier immersed herself in jail planning in recent years, even working a shift at Maguire Correctional Facility. On Tuesday, she was overwhelmed by a sentiment that’s rarely associated with jails.
“When I showed up this morning I had to pinch myself,” she said. “I couldn’t believe how incredibly beautiful it was.”
Contact Aaron Kinney at 650-348-4357. Follow him at Twitter.com/kinneytimes.