FORT WAYNE, Ind.—A much-needed new county jail in the Hoosier State continues to make progress and is targeting early November 2027 for substantial project completion.
Allen County, Ind., was directed by a federal judge to find a solution for its badly overpopulated and aging jail in the midst of downtown Fort Wayne. It soon became clear that the county needed a larger new jail, and the county commissioners chose Elevatus Architecture to design the facility.
The Elevatus justice team convened regularly with the county commissioners, the county sheriff, the jail commander, and jail staff to understand the needs of the county. Among the key design goals were security, safety, efficiency and rehabilitation.
The new Allen County Jail will include five housing pods, plus a separate behavioral health housing unit, which was a major priority for the county.
The general housing pods will be composed of pie-shaped dayrooms around a central control area, offering a confinement officer 360-degree lines of sight into inmate areas. Each pod will include two classrooms and another program space for GED classes, chapel, or AA meetings, in addition to a raised indoor-outdoor recreation space and video visitation stations. Pods were designed to have all inmates services contained to the pod, to curtail unnecessary inmate movement.
The intake area was thought out with a focus on efficiency; the area includes 100 beds for 72-hour holds, a unit for inmates being processed out of the facility, and a housing area for inmates being transferred.
The 70-bed behavioral health unit will have three areas—two for males and on for females—specifically for inmates with mental health challenges who are facing criminal charges. The area will also host support spaces for staff. There will also be a 32-bed unit where qualified inmates can take part in an intensive16-week Jail Chemical Addictions Program (JCAP).
Allen County also wanted to include a medical unit where inmates could receive medical services without having to be moved to a hospital, which can be costly, inefficient and a security risk.
The facility will boast environmental enhancement elements such as natural light via skylights and murals on dayroom walls providing a calming effect.
All told, the new Allen County Jail will have approximately 1,336 beds—furnishing almost twice the capacity of the old jail and ready to accommodate the county’s expected growth for decades to come. It was also designed for possible expansion, should the need ever arise.
Local Fort Wayne firm Weigand Construction is managing the build of the project.
