Heavy equipment is demolishing the Mojave County Jail in downtown Kingman, leaving a pile of rubble that was built before the new Legal Services Center was built on the same site. The clutter of the material is in stark contrast to the shiny, still-almost-new Law and Justice Center across the street.
Cerritos, Calif.-based Resource Environmental, Inc. is conducting a demolition campaign after winning a $500,000 contract. County manager Sam Elters said the completion of the demolition this month will prepare the building for the new facility that will house the offices of the county attorney, public defender, legal counsel and other county legal personnel. .
Elters said the timeline isn’t exact, but the goal is to start construction in the summer and complete the $10 million project sometime next year.
A lawsuit over poor conditions for inmates living in an old jail beneath a historic courthouse led to a voter-approved bond issue and hasty construction of the prison, which welcomed its first guest in 1986. Spring 2010, current adult detention center.