By Staff
PEELING Paint has been peeling on the Lauderdale County jail's exterior for more than two years, leaving sheets of yellow primer exposed. Photo by Marianne Todd/The Meridian Star
By Marianne Todd/The Meridian Star
May 25, 2001
Two years of peeling and bubbling paint at the Lauderdale County Detention Facility will be repaired before summer's end, according to County Administrator Rex Hiatt.
The jail, just three years old, has sheets of peeling paint and exposed yellow primer on its north, east and south walls.
The interior of the jail also has its share of problems.
Work began Wednesday to repair columns of cinder blocks that have begun to separate from the main wall in the jail's "sally port," the bay area where prisoners are moved between the building and patrol cars.
Sollie said all he can do is report problems and hope timely repairs are ordered.
Hiatt said the contractor responsible for the cinder block columns, McKenzie Brothers Inc., is paying for the repairs.
The manufactured exterior steel pods where paint is bubbling and peeling were shipped and painted just prior to the jail's opening in July 1998. Efforts to resolve that problem with the manufacturer, Steel Plex, proved useless after the company went bankrupt in early 2000.
Hiatt said in July county officials were working to resolve the problem with the contractor, Inman Construction Corp. of Memphis, Tenn., which had hired a subcontractor to do the painting work. Negotiations and disagreements over who was to pay for the repainting nearly led to litigation, but Hiatt said attorneys on both sides were recently able to reach an agreement.
Marianne Todd is a staff writer for The Meridian Star. Call her at 693-1551, ext. 3236, or e-mail her at mtodd@themeridianstar.com.