CLEVELAND — Cuyahoga County will continue the vetting process for a proposed jail site in Cleveland.

Keshawn Walker walked inside a building being renovated on Cleveland’s east side, called Platform 13. He said he considers the renovations to be positive development.

“This right here is community investment from someone who is from the community, not someone who is employed by the community,” said Walker. 

As the spokesperson for the National Black Accord and as someone who works with the Cuyahoga County Jail Coalition, he said he has concerns about potential plans to spend more than $500 million on a new county jail.

The coalition doesn’t just believe that money could be spent on non-jail solutions, but also questions the safety and environmental impact of the preferred location.

“They will go and develop something on a land that has chemicals naturally growing underneath it, like gasses and things like that, that can erode over time and maybe even seep through vents and it can further cause cancer, it can cause all kinds of toxic things to the body,” said Walker. 

At a recent Justice Center Steering Committee meeting, consultant Jeff Appelbaum said the site has been vetted. John Garvey, the Vice President of Brownfield and Remediation Services of Partners Environmental Consulting, used examples such as Cleveland’s popular Flats to show that remediation can be done for people to safely live on the site.

“Significant work was done to analyze the site, to analyze what had occurred since the 80s, let’s say, significant work was done to inform us as to what would be required and whether it would be safe to use that site,” said Appelbaum. 

The committee voted to delay approval of a jail site at the location until a new environmental study can be done. The committee also required the county to look into other sites, include more community input and have a third-party review.

While people have voiced opposition to a new jail, Appelbaum said this is the best course.

“There was an acknowledgment that jail one and jail two were built at a time when everything was about custody and control,” said Appelbaum. “It was, frankly, more about cages at that time and we said we have to get to care. It is deficient in terms of medical facilities. It is deficient in terms of programing. It is deficient in terms of natural light. It is deficient in a whole number of things that cannot be solved structurally in that building.”

Walker said the decision is progress, but still has questions about the site, and a new jail altogether.

“That can maybe be a solution, but the way that they’re proposing it, it’s not going to be anything that’s going to stop the current conditions from reoccurring,” said Walker. “It is just going to be a bandaid on a tumor.”