![The proposed site for the new jail is on privately owned land close to Downtown Cleveland and, unlike a nearby site that the county considered, has the support of the local city councilman. [ Google Maps]](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/7a2a554/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1374x772+0+0/resize/840x472!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fimages%2Fnews%2Fnpr%2F2022%2F03%2F1089787636_888594987.png)
The Cuyahoga County committee planning for a new jail appears to have settled on a site near Downtown Cleveland. They’re scheduled to vote on the proposed site, located across the Cuyahoga River east of the Tremont neighborhood at their Tuesday meeting.
If the Justice Center Executive Steering Committee, made up of city, county and justice system officials, approves the purchase, county council will have final say once a sale price is known.
Steering committee members have been meeting since 2019 to plan the future of the aging Justice Center in Downtown Cleveland. In November 2020, they agreed to build a new jail somewhere outside Downtown. The future of the courts, exactly how large the jail will be and how the estimated $550 million price tag will be paid for remain unclear.
According to the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting, the county would have to buy two privately owned parcels, totaling about 44 acres. One was last sold in 2013 for $537,000 and the other sold in 2005 for $1.7 million.
The real estate blog, NEOTrans, took a close look at the location six weeks ago in a detailed blog post, calling it “the best place for the new county jail.”
The land is not far from the previous frontrunner in Slavic Village. The current and former city councilmembers and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Cleveland, which has a branch nearby, all opposed that option. The site was publicly owned land but close to residential areas.
Councilman Kerry McCormack represents Ward 3, which includes Downtown Cleveland, Tremont and both the site of the current jail and the new site. McCormack disputes the argument that a jail has a negative impact on the surrounding area and said he supports the new choice.
“It’s important that we develop a much more humane jail that operates with much better conditions and more efficiently,” McCormack said. “It’s connected to public transportation. It’s closer to the city center. It’s more industrial. I think it’s objectively just a better site.”
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