MADISON — By a 5-3 vote, the State Building Commission on Wednesday approved adding $1.05 million to a now $1.99 million project to add 20 segregation cells at the Prairie du Chien Correctional Institution.

Meeting at State Fair Park, commission members State Sen. Ted Kanavas, R-Brookfield, and State Reps. Phil Montgomery, R-Green Bay, and Dean Kaufert, R-Neenah, voted against the request, citing the near doubling of the project’s cost to $99,562 per cell, according to Peter Maternowski, of the Division of State Facilities.
“There was no concern about the substance of the project, just the cost,” Maternowski said.

Maternowski attributed the higher cost to larger than expected increases in material and labor costs in bids received in May. The project initially was budgeted at $1.09 million when the commission approved its design in May 2007.

Prairie du Chien Correctional has been in need of more segregation cells since it was converted from a juvenile to an adult institution in 2003.

When construction is completed in June 2009, the prison will have 30 segregation cells, still 20 less than the state prison system’s standard.

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