The Department of Public Safety said the old county jail is slated to be demolished soon.
The county Department of Public Works Building Division issued a permit to the state Department of Accounting and General Services on Oct. 15. The work description on the permit is “demolition of old Hilo jail building and other related improvements to include mechanical and electrical” work.
The demolition is expected to take place “in the coming weeks,” according to DPS; however, the permit for the work is valid for three years from the date of issuance.
According to the DAGS website, Heartwood Pacific LLC, a Keaau-based general contractor, was awarded the contract Dec. 4, 2017, after submitting a sealed bid of $853,230.
The two-story jail building, which is on the 3.8-acre Punahele Street site of Hawaii Community Correctional Center in Hilo, was built in the 1890s, according to DPS spokeswoman Toni Schwartz. It has been unoccupied and unused in recent years.
“Our immediate priority was removing a building that was deemed unusable because of the safety and health hazard it posed,” Schwartz said Tuesday.
The bid solicitation issued Sept. 5, 2017, specified work including “complete demolition of a brick and concrete building and an adjacent wooden building, associated hazardous materials removal and abatement, removal of site structures, clearing, grubbing, grading and re-grassing. Also included is the purchase, delivery, site preparation and placement of three … 40 foot long steel storage containers at an off-sit location.”
“Possible uses for that parcel of land will be discussed, but we currently don’t have any set plans,” Schwartz said about the demolition site.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.