Each cell was delivered from Georgia as a “plug-and-play” package, ready to be hooked up to electric and plumbing systems in the roughly $11 million jail building that’s once again under construction after a brief coronavirus-related pause. Each will hold one to four inmates, according to Scott Gagnon, Alpena County Jail administrator.

Two-story stacks of prefabricated cells were welded together on Wednesday morning before being forklifted through a gap in the jail’s cement-block wall and tucked into place in the inmate portion of the building.

A mezzanine will provide access to the upper cells, and a unit of four cells will share an additional “day room” space, Gagnon explained, with inmates locked in the cells at night.

The steel cells — which contain beds, showers, toilets, and a small table, all connected and coated with a smooth finish resistant to both bacteria and escape attempts — will be used for medium-security inmates who require a nighttime lockdown. Other, bunkroom-style cells will house inmates able to safely stay together at night.

News Photo by Julie Riddle Self-contained cells, stacked and welded two-high, are readied on Wednesday to be installed in the new Alpena County Jail under construction on Alpena’s west side.

Cells will line the outside of what is now a giant, open space, while a central control room will allow jail staff to see all cells, which will be able to house 94 inmates.

Windows and skylights in the inmates’ area will substantially help the mood and health of both inmates and corrections officers, Gagnon hopes.

Workers were busily completing an interior cement block wall in the intake portion of the new jail on Wednesday, while a maze of vertical beams in the administration wing gave evidence of the offices to come.

The most recent projection for the project indicated it may be finished in January, Gagnon said, but the date has been flexible, especially after work was suspended for about a month due to coronavirus-related work stoppages.

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693, jriddle@thealpenanews.com or on Twitter @jriddleX.

News Photo by Julie Riddle Alpena County commissioners, Alpena County Sheriff’s Office representatives, and other visitors tour the new steel cells being installed at the under-construction Alpena County Jail on Wednesday. The jail is set to be completed in early 2021.