SALT LAKE CITY — Members of the new Prison Development Commission, charged with overseeing the construction of a new 4,000-bed state prison in Salt Lake City, hit the pause button at their first meeting Tuesday.

Despite a lengthy presentation from the state's Division of Facilities Construction and Management on its preferred plan for going forward with the $550 million project to replace the Utah State Prison in Draper, the commission took no action.

The co-chairman of the commission, House Majority Assistant Whip Brad Wilson, said after the meeting he was proud members wanted "to be thoughtful about this and do our homework" even if that meant disappointing the state agency.

"If we had come in and just adopted whatever they said from the beginning without digging into some of the issues, it probably would have been viewed as not as thorough and as responsible as we needed to be," the Kaysville Republican said.

Related Story

Panel votes to move prison to Salt Lake City

The Utah State Prison in Draper should be moved to Salt Lake City, members of the Legislature's Prison Relocation Commission decided in a unanimous vote Tuesday.

The commission's decision not to immediately endorse the type of project management comes less than three weeks after the new prison site west of the Salt Lake City International Airport was approved in a special session of the Utah Legislature.

Jim Russell, the division's construction program manager, said a decision must be made before the state seeks bids on key elements of planning and building the massive facility, one of the largest projects undertaken by the state.

Commission members said they wanted more time to understand the different options and agreed they would be ready to make a choice in about three weeks, when their next meeting is expected to be held.

House Majority Whip Francis Gibson, R-Mapleton, said waiting that long "on a scale as big as this and a project this expensive" shouldn't be seen as much of a hurdle to the project.

Gibson pointed out the commission heard testimony from people apparently interested in competing for the project suggesting other options might be better. Waiting, he said, would give them a time to offer more information.

Russell pitched what's known as a construction manager and general contractor process that he said is more expensive and can take months longer than a design-build option, but offers more flexibility and less risk.

A chart he distributed showed that his preferred plan would take four years and three months, pushing the completion date to late 2019. Only designing the entire project before putting it out for bid would take longer, nearly six years.

Russell did not offer any specifics about costs.

Throughout the yearslong selection process, the project was described as taking about three years to complete. Wilson told reporters he wanted to know more about the longer construction time and said it probably boosts the price tag.

He said the goal of lawmakers is "to do this as quick as possible. That facility in Draper, every day we have people down there is a missed opportunity for the state" to implement new corrections reforms intended to reduce recidivism.

The commission will replace the Legislature's Prison Relocation Commission that recommended the Salt Lake site over alternatives in Eagle Mountain and Fairfield in Utah County and Grantsville in Tooele County despite issues with wetlands.

The state could take up to a year to finalize the purchase of the property, Russell said.

What happens with the nearly 700 acres in Draper once the prison is moved has yet to be decided. State law spells out that the new commission can't "consider or evaluate future uses or development" of the property.

But lawmakers have already been talking about a role for the state in the planning process.

House Speaker Greg Hughes, R-Draper, told KSL Newsradio's Doug Wright Tuesday that lawmakers have a responsiblity to their constituents to "follow through" on how the property is developed.

Hughes, a longtime proponent of freeing up the prime real estate at Point of the Mountain, said when it comes to what's built there, the state should be open to "whatever the market and engineering can accommodate."

Much of the talk surrounding plans for the site are focused on bringing high-tech jobs to that portion of the so-called "Silicon Slopes" corridor connecting Utah County and Salt Lake County along I-15.

Draper Mayor Troy Walker is touting plans for the site drawn up by the city in early 2014 showing a cluster of high-rises that could compete with downtown Salt Lake City.

"You have a blank slate," Walker said. "You've got to think big."

Related topics