Groundbreaking Ceremony Marks Jail's Construction
A new correctional facility in Pictou County will inject millions into the provincial economy during its construction and create scores of good jobs in the years ahead.
At an official groundbreaking ceremony today, July 16, Justice Minister Ross Landry was joined by Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal Minister Maurice Smith, local MLA Clarrie MacKinnon, Pictou County Warden Ronnie Baillie, community representatives, law enforcement and correctional services and sheriffs staff.
"This is an exciting time for Pictou County and the justice system," Mr. Landry said. "This facility will create many good jobs for the area. I look forward to watching the facility take shape, knowing that we will soon have a safer, more efficient correctional system."
The new facility, which replaces two ageing jails, will make the correctional system in Nova Scotia safer and more efficient by reducing capacity pressures at other facilities.
"On behalf of the County of Pictou, we appreciate this investment in infrastructure of the jail that will provide long-term benefits to the county through construction, full-time jobs and services," said Mr. Baillie
It is expected to be complete in mid-2014. There will be more than 100 jobs at the facility, 70 of them new positions.
Key features of the facility include:
- 81,000 square feet in size
- 200 beds
- six day rooms
- health and dental suites
- electronic drug detection systems
- state-of-the-art closed-circuit TV monitoring
On July 3, the province awarded the construction tender for the project to Bird Construction. This is the third and final phase of the project.
Pine Breeze Logging Services, a Mi'kmaq firm, cleared the trees and prepared the land for construction in September 2011. Then, over the winter, Nova Construction Co. completed site preparation work, which included installing sewer, storm and water lines. The Town of New Glasgow and the Municipality of the County of Pictou also worked to bring water, storm and sewer infrastructure to the site.
For more information, visit www.gov.ns.ca/just/Corrections/NENS.asp .