Architectural consultants and Lancaster County officials have begun laying the groundwork to design the new county jail as they try to strike a balance between meeting cost expectations and operational needs.

A series of workshops this week gathered architects, county commissioners, law enforcement, corrections officials and other stakeholders. It was designed to foster free-flowing discussion and spark ideas from many different perspectives.

Clark Enersen Partners, who won the contract to design the jail,  and its consultant PSA-Dewberry are leading the process, which will organize several more gatherings between now and December.

The county is building the new jail at Southwest 40th and West O streets to relieve overcrowding at the jail at 10th and J streets and a minimum-security site in Air Park. The project has been several years in the making.

This week’s workshop sessions amounted to a good exchange of information, said Commissioner Bernie Heier.

“I think it’s a great start,” he said.

Having been through designing and building a jail before — referring to the current jail built in the early ’90s — this process of having everyone involved from day one is much more effective, Commissioner Larry Hudkins said.

Clark Enersen’s Greg Newport, who leads the architectural team, said he was pleased as well with the progress and amount of participation.

“We wanted everyone to feel engaged in the discussion,” he said.

The group for now is working from a conceptual 760-bed jail, which is built with core facilities to handle a population of 1,000.

That number will get refined as details are worked through.

Discussions also mentioned the group’s desire to keep the building somewhat low-profile, at least as it’s viewed from O Street. The slope of the land to the south will be one feature that makes that easier, they said.

But making it attractive is not a top priority, Heier said. More important is holding the costs down and building a functional complex.

The group will gather for the second round of three-day workshops beginning March 24.

Plans to visit a jail in Polk County, Iowa, are on hold for now because that project is behind schedule and not yet ready to offer tours, county officials have said. It’s still hoped that might be arranged this spring sometime.

A delegation including architectural representatives and county officials will travel to Orange County, Fla., and Hampden County, Mass., next month.

Orange County, regarded as the genesis of direct-supervision jails, is designed to hold 4,105 inmates. Hampden County can supervise as many as 1,800 offenders.

Efforts are under way to launch a Web site that will contain minutes from workshop meetings and other information about the Lancaster County jail project. It is expected to be operational before the next set of workshops.

Reach Jean Ortiz at 473-7107 or jortiz@journalstar.com.