CZM Hears Plans To Float New At-Sea Restaurant and Build New Jail

A plan to build a criminal detention facility in Sub Base hit a snag at the Coastal Zone Management hearing Tuesday.

No one at the meeting disputed the need for a new place to house prisoners on St. Thomas. The 91-bed Farrelly Criminal Justice Center was not built for the task and had been converted to a longer-term facility after the 2017 storms, Bureau of Corrections consultants said. The proposed Swan Annex project would create a 115,00-square-foot, two-story complex on 2.5 acres that would house up to 207 inmates, offering state-of-the-art security, as well as education, medical, and other support services, said John Lester, a BOC consultant.

The site stretches across six lots, some strewn with abandoned automobiles, trash, and industrial waste. Lester said there was just one active tenant in the area that would be evicted. That tenant, woodworker George Munzar, spoke up at the meeting, saying he was dismayed no one had called or knocked on his door to explain what was happening. Munzar said he and his family had sunk millions into repairing the building over 40 years, keeping a thriving small business going that employed a dozen or more people at any time.