Site for new Penobscot County jail narrowed to 4 potential properties

By Marie Weidmayer, Bangor Daily News Staff

Penobscot County officials are considering buying one of four properties on which to build a new jail.

Penobscot County Commissioners are discussing the property purchase in executive sessions, so not much information is public at this time, including the location of the potential properties, Chair Andre Cushing said.

“We don’t want to publicize something that would create any discomfort for a landowner if they were made public before we had an agreement on a piece of land or deny the county’s opportunity to get a piece of land at a reasonable price,” he said.

The county has debated what needs to happen to the current jail for at least six years. County officials say the Penobscot County Jail is in poor condition and that it is not worth making repairs to the building, which was constructed in 1869. Buying a piece of property is the first step toward building the new facility.

The last substantial renovations to the jail at 85 Hammond Street were in 1988, with a $5 million voter-approved bond. The facility is licensed by the Maine Department of Corrections to hold up to 157 inmates.

Public outcry killed a proposed eight-story jail in downtown Bangor in 2018. 

The county started looking for property in late 2023 and early 2024. It needs 15 to 20 acres, and four potential locations have fallen through in part because of the demand for housing, County Administrator Scott Adkins said previously.

An engineering firm has reviewed the properties now being considered and the county is doing due diligence before any purchase, Cushing said. He said it wants to avoid similar problems to when the county bought the old YMCA property, a building that was condemned the day before the purchase.

Buying the old YMCA property, at the corner of Hammond and Court streets, was “well intentioned” but should have been reviewed by engineers first, Cushing said. There was “surprise” asbestos inside and plans to turn the property into the new jail failed. The building was finally torn down this summer, after bricks were falling off the outside facade.

There is a conceptual design for the new correctional facility but multiple studies, including a topographical study, will need to be done to determine how the building can be laid out, Cushing said.

A 2018 proposal included plans for 200 to 300 beds, which critics have said is bigger than the county needs and could lead to more people being incarcerated. Opponents also say a new building is an improper use of tax money.

Property must be purchased before any firm plans can start taking shape, Cushing said.

As the project moves forward, there will be public discussions about the project because voters have the final say. The new jail will be funded through voter-approved bonds. 

“We need to have some internal discussions as well as external about the size,” Cushing said. “We never know what society’s going to bring to us on any given occasion. Once we get (property) locked down we’ll look at our numbers and then we’ll come up with a plan to take to the voters.”