Work underway to stop Luzerne County prison leaks

A $1.4 million project is underway to address deteriorating parapet walls atop the Luzerne County Correctional Facility in Wilkes-Barre, officials say.

The damaged masonry caused water to infiltrate inside, mainly along two cell block areas. After a presentation about the problem in September, county council had unanimously agreed to earmark additional capital and federal American Rescue Plan funds to complete the work.

Construction has started and currently on schedule, with final completion set for November, according to the county manager’s new monthly division head report.

County Correctional Services Division Head James Wilbur said Monday this schedule appears to be on track.

Bloomsburg-based C&D Waterproofing submitted the low bid and was awarded the $1.4 million contract. Mark J. Sobeck Roof Consulting handled the project design.

In addition to removing asbestos material from the walls, the contractor will install new metal panels on the interior wall surfaces, cap the tops of the walls with new metal copings and install a weather-repellent product on the wall exteriors, roofing consultant Mark Sobeck has said.

This solution will allow the walls to “breathe” because they are currently holding water within the masonry, causing leaking inside, the consultant said. The alternative — tearing down the parapet walls and “starting over” — would have cost an estimated $5 million to $10 million, he had said.

Elevators

A project to replace the two heavily used elevators at the county prison is set to begin in September instead of this spring as originally planned, the division report said.

Construction cannot start until all needed parts are on site, and the lead time for replacement parts is estimated at 12 weeks, the report said.

Council had authorized $300,000 in American Rescue funds toward the elevator project in January 2022 to supplement $350,000 in county capital funds already earmarked, making $650,000 available. An additional $235,000 American Rescue allocation was approved for the project in July based on the lone bid from Otis Elevator.

The prison’s two elevators date back to the 1980s. Some repairs were completed after a fifth-floor elevator door swung open at the base in 2016, resulting in the deaths of a correctional officer and an inmate, but officials say the motor system and controls must be updated.