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GREENSBORO — With several tosses of dirt upon a gravel parking lot, county leaders began what they hope to be a new, safer era in criminal justice throughout Guilford County on Monday morning.

It was the start of the $114.6 million jail project, which includes a new Guilford County Detention Center at 201 S. Edgeworth St. and a renovation of the existing jail next door.

The project is being paid for by money from $115 million in bonds, which voters approved in 2008.

The project is a construction manager at risk project — meaning the total cost can go down, but can’t go up, said Sheriff BJ Barnes.

“It’s something we sorely needed in this county... for a long while,” said Barnes, noting that the current jail is on average 200 people over capacity each day.

“(The problem has been) lack of bed space. This jail is going to meet the needs that we have but it’s not going to be excessive.”

The new eight-story jail will encompass 396,946 square feet and will house 1,032 inmates.

The site is anticipated to keep up with current inmate growth through 2025, barring unforeseen law changes that could increase incarceration rates.

The new jail is expected to open in late 2011 and be less than 80 percent capacity upon completion, said Maj. Deb Montgomery, who oversees jail facilities.

Work will then start on renovations to the current jail — bringing total inmate capacity in downtown Greensboro to around 1,400 inmates by mid-2013.

With the capacity of the High Point jail, the county could hold just under 1,700 inmates.

But that’s a number that county officials hope they never see — citing the need for increased attention to inmate rehabilitation for drug abuse and mental health problems, as well as for financial and educational woes that lead to crime and incarceration.

“Our hope is that we will be able to dedicate space for drug addiction and alcohol addiction... because that is 75 percent of the people (in the existing jail),” said Melvin “Skip” Alston, chair of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, who opposed the new jail.

“Most of them are suffering not from the will to steal... but most have a personal problem or sickness of addiction and we have to be able to be aware and address those problems.”

The new jail will dedicate 45 beds each to handle mental health inmates and those undergoing treatment for substance abuse.

The facility will also continue programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, in addition to other assistance programs.

“We can build the finest brick and mortar facility in this country, but if we don’t start today to develop programs to keep people from coming to this facility and keep people who do find themselves (in jail) from ever coming back, we haven’t done our jobs,” said Commissioner Paul Gibson.

In all, the construction of the site is anticipated to create 2,000 jobs through completion.

The sheriff’s office anticipates needing 313 detention officers to oversee the facility, up from the 144 at the old jail.

Unlike the old jail, the new jail will be direct supervision.

Officers will have better view over inmates in the housing units and common areas and intercom systems, allowing officers to be more proactive in preventing problems.

Once the shell of the building is complete, the floors will be finished from the top down — which will allow detention officers to begin training on the building’s schematics and floor plan well before the building is opened.

The facility will also have an underground tunnel that links to the existing tunnel at the old jail and courthouse, to easily move inmates between court appearances.

The project is being handled by Balfour Beaty, D.H. Griffin and other local, regional and national subcontractors.

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com