This week marks six months since the Oklahoma Department of Corrections began working on maintenance projects touching every state prison.
Last session, the state legislature passed a made possib;e by 116.5 million bond to help modernize the failing infrastructure of DOC.
The agency has identified dozens of critical infrastructure areas needing repair or replacement.
“We are right where we want to be in the timing of this massive project. Working through state statute which mandates how we must bid projects as well as juggling security at each prison facility takes a lot of attention to detail. DOC has an excellent team working together to make this process run as smoothly as possible,” Faron Bryant, DOC Construction and Maintenance Director, says.
Six months into the three-year bond project, DOC has either completed or is in some phase of moving forward on more than 130 projects. Those projects range from updating and replacing failing water and gas lines, updating electrical systems at aging facilities, to replacing inefficient or nonworking heat and air systems.
“I appreciate the legislature providing DOC the ability to put money back into our dilapidated buildings,” DOC Director Joe M. Allbaugh comments. “For years, DOC only had the money to apply Band-Aides to what amounts to gaping wounds involving critical infrastructure. DOC has assembled a team to ensure we use the bond money in the most cost-effective ways. One way is using inmate labor when possible.”
So far, DOC has spent close to $40 million of the $116.5 million bond.
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