COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – A 70-year-old building on North Marshall Road that once housed the Branch County Jail has been demolished.
Branch County Administrator Bud Norman told the county’s Planning Commission on Wednesday that work continues to evacuate the remnants.
He said a portion of the old jail did not get torn down.
Crews from Handy Excavating of Quincy began tearing down the old jail on July 12. The total project was expected to cost around $340,000. The original budget for the demolition was around a half million dollars.
The county obtained a nearly $145,000 grant from the State of Michigan last year to offset some of the cost.
The building for many years served as the Maple Lawn Medical Care Facility before a new location for Maple Lawn was built on Sprague Street across from the Branch County Fairgrounds. The jail was then moved from its downtown Coldwater location in 1993 to the building on Marshall Road just north of Coldwater.
The new Branch County Jail officially opened in October 2021. The construction of the new jail was made possible after a 20-year, 1.25 mill proposal was approved by Branch County voters in August 2018. Two previous attempts to pass a new jail millage failed in 2006 and 2016.
Comments