PORT ANGELES — The project to expand the Clallam County jail by 30 beds — and 30 percent — is about halfway to completion.
What once was the jail’s vacant Special Detention Unit now is mostly a cavern of concrete floors and walls with electrical conduits and plumbing protruding from them.
By June, Jail Supervisor Ron Sukert hopes, the space will become dormitories for six and for 24 people with day rooms for each dorm.
Having a larger and a smaller area will let Sukert “flip-flop” the two areas’ inmates from male to female or vice versa depending on the jail’s population.
Formally called the Clallam County Corrections Center, it was built in 1978 and ’79 and opened in 1980 with space for 90 prisoners.
“I remember the days when we used to contract out beds to other agencies,” he said Wednesday.