"In 1990, the institution was under court order to fix up [the building] or close," said Frederick Watts, AIA, of IKM Incorporated Architects, who was the project manager since its inception. "They determined that it would be impossible to bring the jail up to modern standards. They said that they were attempting to develop plans to build a new building. By 1993, all of that was in place -- a new jail was in construction."
The entire jail was vacated in 1995, and all of the prisoners were moved to the new facility. "In 1990, we made a recommendation to the county commissioners to suggest that the facility be turned into functional office space on the interior," said Mike Marcu, AIA, president of IKM and principal who led the design team along with Principal Bob Moro, AIA. Marcu explained that they decided to eliminate the cell blocks and keep the remaining rotunda area.