Executive Council approves close to $10M for Concord prison design

I’M TIM CALLERY, WMUR NEWS NINE. THE STATE IS TAKING THE FIRST STEP TOWARD BUILDING A NEW MEN’S PRISON. TODAY. THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL APPROVED NEARLY $10 MILLION FOR DESIGN AND ENGINEERING SERVICES FOR A NEW FACILITY TO REPLACE THE AGING AND DECREPIT PRISON IN CONCORD, PARTS OF WHICH DATE BACK TO THE 1800S. THE COST OF REPLACEMENT HERE IS OVER HALF $1 BILLION. I KNOW IT’S NOT A VERY A SEXY THING TO SAY. YOU’RE GOING TO SPEND, YOU KNOW, ALL THAT YOU HAVE TO SPEND, ALL THIS TAXPAYER DOLLARS ON A NEW PRISON. BUT ULTIMATELY WE’RE I FEAR THAT THE STATE WILL BE IN A LAWSUIT SITUATION BECAUSE OF THE CONDITIONS THERE. THE WORK WILL BEGIN WITH AN EXTENSIVE SITE INVESTIGATION OF THE 300 ACRES OF STATE OWNED LAND AROUND THE EXISTING PRISON