BY STEVE KEMME
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON -- A tract of more than 15 acres just south of downtown was added Monday to the list of possible sites for a new Butler County jail.
Most of the site, between Pleasant Avenue and the CSX Railroad tracks, is owned by CSX.
John Auraden, a commercial property owner downtown, suggested the site Monday to the Jail Work Group, a committee headed by Butler County Commissioner Mike Fox that is developing plans for construction of a new jail.
The two other sites under consideration are at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Ludlow Street, and on Hanover Street near Seventh Street (the former Deutscher Foundry site).
The nine-member Jail Work Group, appointed by the county commissioners, is working on a plan to build a jail without raising taxes. It has decided the jail should be able to hold 400 prisoners, with room to double-cell up to 800.
The existing jail was built in 1971 to house 80 inmates, but regularly has more than 180.
Appraisals of all three sites will be conducted before the Jail Work Group's next meeting, on Nov. 9. A jail site might be selected at that meeting.
Jail experts have told the committee that the site ought to be at least 15 acres to meet current demands and allow for expansion. To accommodate this requirement, Hamilton has offered to double the size of the proposed Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard site by adding the block bordered by Third Street, Maple Avenue, Ludlow and MLK Boulevard.
Mr. Fox prefers the Deutscher Foundry site over the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard site. The Deutscher site probably can be acquired for about $1 million, while the other site could cost $8 million to $10 million, he said.
"I would rather put the money into the jail instead of the site," Mr. Fox said.
Hamilton officials prefer the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard site because they want to use the railroad tracks at the Deutscher site for attracting industrial development.
But Mr. Fox said a jail could be built at that site without eliminating the railroad tracks.
