Baltimore will soon have a new jail, which is expected to be the most expensive state-funded project in history. According to the Baltimore Banner, the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services is moving forward with plans to build the $1 billion Baltimore Therapeutic Treatment Center.
The old detention center will be replaced by a hybrid jail, hospital, mental health, and substance use treatment facility.
The $1 billion project’s cost will be spread over more than five years, with completion expected in 2029. Once completed, the operating costs are expected to exceed $100 million a year.
The facility costs $443 million more than the corrections department’s initial estimates. It is being attributed to supply chain issues and inflation. A nonpartisan legislative analysis referred to the plan as “the most expensive state-run project in Maryland history.”
The state claims it requires the new facility to comply with a 2016 settlement of a decades-long lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of health care in Baltimore jails. The lawsuit is ongoing, and the corrections department has yet to fully comply with any of the agreement’s nine provisions.
