New Fort Madison prison may face another delay

DES MOINES — The discovery of yet another problem threatens to further delay the opening of a maximum-security prison at Fort Madison and make the Legislature's budget process even harder, according to lawmakers looking into issues surrounding the prison construction.

'The spiraling costs are a huge concern, and there's no way to know whether there will be more costs,' House Oversight Committee Chairman Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, said Thursday.

'The challenge has been just when we think we know everything, something else goes wrong,' added Rep. Vicki Lensing, D-Iowa City. 'It's a very impressive building if it would work.'

Committee members are concerned that the discovery of an air flow problem not connected to previous issues at the 800-bed prison will delay transferring prisoners from a 176-year-old prison also at Fort Madison.

'So we've got a new issue on top of the geothermal issue on top of the smoke evacuation problem on top of the leaking roof, and we have no idea how much that is going to cost,' Kaufmann said.

Already the cost has grown from $132 million to at least $166 million, according to state officials.

Overruns and not knowing if there will be more will make putting together the state's $7 billion-plus general fund budget more difficult than it already is, said Rep. Greg Heartsill, R- Columbia.

'It'd sure be nice to get a somewhat close, ballpark number to work with,' he said.

Rep. Phyllis Thede, D-Bettendorf, jokingly suggested that if the costs continue to rise the state might have to sell the prison.

'The costs keep going up and up and up and up,' she said 'We can't afford this.'