The~ Mihiga Da I Vol. XCI, No. 17-S Ann Arbor, Michigan-Friday, May 29, 1981 Sixteen Pages Overcrowding haunts county By LOU FINTOR Officials at correctional facilities in several southeastern Michigan coun- ties-including Washtenaw-are main- taining varying levels of staff alert this week in light of recent rioting at Jackson, Ionia, and Marquette State prisons.t InsOakland County, officials described the situation as "critical," and said emergency measures are being taken to deal with severe over- crowding. "YESTERDAY morning I closed down the Oakland County Jail until fur- ther notice," said Oakland County Sheriff Johannes Spreen. "It's an ex- plosive situation here. We have ap- proximately 30 inmates sleeping in holding tanks on bare floors." Spreen called the predicament "a mess," and said -"Jackson (State Prison) cannot take any more of our inmates. Our total inmate population was 591 yesterday, that's 100 inmates over capacity. We are housing 10 men to a cell, eight on bunks and two on the floor. In holding cells we have 10 men sleeping on the floor." The sheriff criticized the state'for the way the prison overcrowding problem is being dealt with and expressed alarm for the safety of his staff, and the in- mate population at the Oakland County facility. "THERE IS A certain decency you should maintain," Spreen said, and described the situation as so severely overcrowded that such basic needs as bathing and recreation are almost non- existent. "This jail is critically under- staffed and I'm extremely concerned over the safety of our own officers." Spreen said that due to such over- crowding it is not uncommon for "a 17- year-old boy sent to jail for a minor of- fense," to be housed in the same cell with hardened felons. IN WASHTENAW County, Nuel Schneider, jail lieutenant for the Coun- ty Corrections Division, maintained that while staff at the county jail are remaining "alert," no measures "out of the ordinary" are being taken that relate to a tightening of security. "We don't anticipate any problems or/ have any indication that there will be," said Schneider. "We're set up on a short-term basis, the longest term in the county jail is one year and we average a changeover of prisoners every 3-6 months." Schneider explained that while over- See OVERCROWDING, Page 7 Doily Photo by PAUL EN INMATE CELL AT THE Washtenaw County Correctional Facility. New office building planned By ANNETTE STARON Since city zoning approval was gran- ted last December, all that has stood in the way of construction of a new, eight- story retail and office building down- town has been high interest rates. Years ago, when rates were lower, Bill Kotila and some friends bought the property where Sun Bakery now stands on the corner of Fifth and Liberty Streets. Now, on the brink of realization, their plans to construct a modern, brick-and-glass office building are blocked only by high interest rates and the lack of a financial backer. "WE BOUGHT the land about ten years ago as an investment," said Kotila from his office in Wilmette, Illinois. He said they bought it "with the thought that one day we'd build something there." About a year ago, preliminary work began on designing a building for the site which is on the principal street linking the State and Main business districts. The building, designed by a local ar- chitectural firm, Hobbs and Black, will contain retail shops and an open plaza on the street level for shoppers to walk through. Chuck Mancherian, Assistant Director of the Ann Arbor City Plan- ning Department, described it as "a covered plaza with benches." THE REST OF the building will terrace back with small porch-like areas on each level with bushes and shrubs visible from the street level. According to Mancherian, the site plan and zoning for the proposed building were approved by the city on December 1 last year. "The Ann Arbor City Planning Department was ex- tremely interested in the plans," Kotila said. The next step is for the owner to sub- mit construction plans to the city to get a building permit. Kotila said thatit is difficult to find funding for the con- struction of a new office building and that the only institutions financing of- fice structures now are insurance com- panies. EARLY PLANS to include residential space in the building, in the form of apartments or condominiums, were rejected as impractical, because to do so would have required that additional that construction will begin within "90 city specifications be met. to 120 days after someone signs on the "The building will be built - the only line and commits themselves (to fun- question is when," Kotila said, adding ding the project)." t THIS AR TIST'S CONCEPTION of the proposed building to be constructed at the corner of Liberty and Fifth streets shows the open walk-through plaza for shoppers, the appearance of the building, and the terracing of-the upper floors. Local architectural firm of Hobbs and Black designed the building.