The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-23
BOARD OF REVENUE
 WILL ADOPT THE JAIL
 PLAN ON MONDAY
Differences to Be Threshed Out and Members Will Be Ready for Dr.
 Oates Tuesday

That new jail for Jefferson county
 will be built in the near future is certainty. That the new jail will be built
 on the site of the old jail is almost
 equally certain. Dr. w. IT. Oates. state
 prison inspector, is determined that some
 thing shall be done in the way of i'm
 proving present conditions and 1t is un- derstood will use all the authority of
 the state vested in him to bring this about
 But this will not be necessary for every
 member of the board is in favor of buld-
 ing new jail for the county. The board
 has several plans under consideration and
 on Monday they will meet and endeavor to select one of the plans that has been 1 submitted. On Tuesday they will meet with pr. Oates in reference 10 the same Up to this time the board has not been
 able to agree on q final solution of the
 matter. Four of them are in favor of
 building new jail on the present site the other member favors the building of d county jail on the outskirts of the city
 or rather removed from the business sec
 ton. All are unanimous that a new jail IS badly needed and are ready to build one at once.
 HOW MemberS Stand Dr. Lovelady. president of the board, is in favor of building modern skyscraper Of some 10 stories high with u modern jail on top that win serve as court
 house and jail combined He would have II located on the corner of Twenty-flrst street and Fourth avenue. He states that the county should build for the future,
 and that the new building should be amply large to meet the requirements for sev- ig n aIsp in favor of the plan suggested by Dr. Lovelady and states he wants to do what will be to the best interest of the county. Lawrence Pennington and Hugh Me- Geever suggest 12-story building located on the rear of the present lot or where the Big Rock jail now stands They pro- pose building 50x93 facing Fourth avenue that can be used for all the criminal de-
 partments Of the county and with the Jail on top. The plan they have In mind Is that the structure should be built on the unit plan that in the event mora
 space Is required an addition could be
 made to the structure that would conform
 to its style of architecture and not de-
 tract from the beauty Of the proposed building. Mir. McGeever states that such a building could be erected at a cost of from s250.000 to S3O000 and would pro- vide ample jail space for glie next 50 years.
 Cameron Stands Alone
 Maj. w. J. Cameron insists that the jail should be removed to u site away from the courthouse. and suggests that
 the present lot could be sold and the proceeds devoted to the erection of d
 new jail at suitable point removed from the present site. To the objection made
 as to transferring the prisoners to and from the courthouse, Major Cameron points to Philadelphia and other cities where the system Is very satisfactorily worked.
 | So as the matter stands two of the members of the board favor a skyscraper
 suitable for courthouse and Jail com bined and located on the front of the | lot facing Twenty first street, and are silent on the cost of such a building; 1 two are in favor of a 12-stery building on
 the unit plan and one member favors the building of jail elsewhere from the present site
 | The matter will be threashed out by the members of the board on Monday Each | of the members are desirous of doing 1 the best for the county. Possibly none of the plans suggested above will be adopted, but one thing the board is | unanimous upon and that is new jail for Jefferson county is imperative and | that it will be built in the near future