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Harris County Jail At 1307 Baker St.


terra002

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if the concern is bayou real estate use, there's a lot more bayou than this 3 block stretch of bayou.

 

bang for the buck wise, there's so much bayou in the east end that can be transformed for so much cheaper, and without having to relocate parts of our government that actually work pretty efficiently in their current configuration.

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I was driving through the courts district of downtown today thinking to myself how perfect that area would be for residential. Most of the streets are narrowed to 2 lanes in that part of downtown already, ideal for pedestrian activity/street crossings. Not to mention Buffalo Bayou..

Obviously the courts/bail bonds places would have to be relocated/the area cleaned up. But that's basically the point of this thread anyways.. I just figured the land where the courts are have just as much potential as the jail site across the bayou.

Maybe relocate the courts to the north of the jail/south of i10, where that little warehouse district is, so the courts can still be accessible by the jail?

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I was driving through the courts district of downtown today thinking to myself how perfect that area would be for residential. Most of the streets are narrowed to 2 lanes in that part of downtown already, ideal for pedestrian activity/street crossings. Not to mention Buffalo Bayou..

Obviously the courts/bail bonds places would have to be relocated/the area cleaned up. But that's basically the point of this thread anyways.. I just figured the land where the courts are have just as much potential as the jail site across the bayou.

Maybe relocate the courts to the north of the jail/south of i10, where that little warehouse district is, so the courts can still be accessible by the jail?

 

If there's any idea in the world less likely to happen within any foreseeable time horizon than relocating the jails, relocating the courthouses is surely it.  Both ideas are very expensive solutions in search of a problem.

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Haha yeah too true. Just figured I'd add my fantastical idea to the thread of ideas that will probably never happen.. Hopefully they can recreate that style streetscape in the southeast part of downtown.. I wonder if there are any plans to make that area more pedestrian friendly for the new residents..

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The 850,000 square feet (79,000 m2) 1301 Franklin facility opened on September 13, 1982 ... with 13 stories and a basement, had the HCSO's administrative offices ... and had the capacity to house around 4,000 inmates.[16] After the opening of the 1200 Jail on January 23, 2003, the former Franklin facility was no longer used as a jail.[10] 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harris_County_Sheriff%27s_Office_(Texas)#Former_facilities 

 

The current jails hold 9,370 inmates total.

 

There's a reason there are more than one jail building - that's a lot of beds

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The jail could be moved if the County Records Storage Bldg was demo'd and a mid-rise replacement bldg could consolidate the jail program with the records storage. I seem to recall that this bldg was originally a jail too but was condemned but cannot verify this.

OP would like to see the jail deleted from downtown altogether.

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The jail could be moved if the County Records Storage Bldg was demo'd and a mid-rise replacement bldg could consolidate the jail program with the records storage. I seem to recall that this bldg was originally a jail too but was condemned but cannot verify this.

 

That building was built as the county jail in the 70s in response to inmate litigation, gaining the nickname "Carl Bue Hilton" in honor of the Federal judge presiding over that case.  And yes, it didn't take too many decades for it to no longer be a viable jail facility.  IIRC, it even ended up spawning its own inmate litigation.  

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At the risk of sounding harsh... this is one of the dumbest ideas I have heard. Just because you don't want your precious senses assaulted by the lower echelons of society doesn't mean the jail and related structures should be shoved into a different part of town.

 

Why should those people have to put up with the issues you decry? Just because you want a pristine downtown where you can sip coffee and eat trendy dishes in sidewalk cafes while you pretend Houston is the Left Bank? YGBFKM.

 

The current set-up is probably as efficient as it could be in a city this size.

Last time I had jury duty I was impressed by the setup.  Potential jurors wait in neat little auditoria, underground but lit with filtered daylight.  Free WiFi & a snackbar made the wait convenient--until most of us were told we weren't needed & could leave. (We could either pick up our tiny checks or have the funds contributed to various charities--who take checks to the bank any more?)

 

From the street, the jury duty room looks like a pavilion set in a garden. Tunnels take jurors to the various courts without leading them through the streets. The entire courthouse system--including the imposing Original Courthouse--takes up many blocks & is not going anywhere. 

 

Are there people in jail who should not be?  Are mental health services inadequate? Probably. But these are societal problems, not to be solved in this forum.  In the meantime, the best way to deal with the homeless downtown is to outnumber them. With people living there (in those many new projects going up) or just hanging out before we continue our commute.   

 

The Big Bus Overhaul lets me walk through a few blocks of famous skyscrapers to catch light rail at the Central Station. If I reverse the route home (there are alternates if I'm not in a hurry) I can catch the bus at Franklin & Main--with the option of getting a drink & a snack at any number of fine establishments within a couple of blocks.

 

The old commute involved Bell Station, where I had to walk around people sleeping on the sidewalk in the morning. Not scary, just sad.  This thread began with "Let's Move the Jail" but the OP made the link between those unlovely buildings & the street people.  No link having been proven, I've chosen to vote for continual improvement of the City & the ability to enjoy it even before perfection is achieved.  

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  • The title was changed to Move The Jail
  • The title was changed to Harris County Jail At 1307 Baker St.

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