New jail and law enforcement center holds dedication ceremony

There were jokes about the number of politicians inside its impermeable walls and about the captive audience gathered in the maximum security wing. Despite the banter, Wednesday’s dedication ceremony signaled a serious occasion, as the new Rockingham County Jail Law Enforcement Center was officially revealed to the public, bringing to life a facility several years in the making.

Dozens of politicians, law enforcement officials and others keen to see the highly-anticipated facility for themselves filled a maximum security wing of the new center Tuesday morning. Sheriff Sam Page, Chairman of the Rockingham County Board of Commissioners Harold Bass and Dan Mace with Moseley Architects were among those who spoke during the brief ceremony.

Sheriff’s Office Chaplain Kevin Cochran delivered the invocation, seeking God’s blessing for the new quarters and the work to be carried out there.

“As we dedicate this facility today, we ask for your help,” Cochran said.

He asked that those who work within its walls would be given kindness and compassion to show to the inmates who cross the threshold – “to be both hope and comfort to those who are incarcerated.”

He said the building should be a somewhere to “promote peace and healing” and “a place of restorative justice.”

County Commissioner Amelia Dallas, who serves as chair of the courthouse construction committee, proffered that the new jail belongs not only to those who will occupy it, but to the residents of Rockingham County.

“This is your jail facility,” she said.

Dan Mace of Moseley Architects, the firm behind the building’s design, touted the facility’s environmentally-friendly components, including the use of local building materials to reduce transportation costs, reflective roof membranes to better preserve temperatures, the use of recycled materials when possible, an emphasis on ventilation and preferred parking spots for carpoolers.

The “green” design characteristics have made it possible for the project to be registered to seek Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), a nationwide indicator of environmentally-friendly facilities.

County Manager Tom Robinson expressed gratitude to Rockingham County residents for supporting the new center, which replaces one he said had become “woefully inadequate.”

Dean Venable, public information officer for the sheriff’s office, said the office has officially relocated to the new building, and inmates will be transferred over in the coming weeks.

The $38 million facility rests on 38 acres of land that it shares with the new Emergency Operations Center and soon-to-be-opened Judicial Center. The facility contains almost 76,000 square feet of space, with 108 inmate cells and 232 inmate beds.