Niantic prison to receive overhaul
Project replaces heating, cooling system in state’s only women’s facility
East Lyme — A major heating and cooling project planned for the Janet S. York Correctional Institution — the state’s only female correctional facility — is moving forward after the state’s Bonding Commission approved funding for $53.6 million to complete the $60 million project at a special meeting Wednesday in Hartford.
The project will overhaul the facility’s HVAC system — installed in 1994, the same year York first opened, according to Department of Correction spokesperson Andrius Banevicius — and will replace the facility’s central heating and cooling plant and its underground distribution system, the facility’s boilers and chillers, water supply lines for both hot and cold water, all its valves and faults, as well as return piping.
The institution’s current HVAC system, which functions as a central system serving 18 buildings within the facility, has never received an upgrade and has experienced “repeated pipeline failures” over the years, Banevicius said.
“There comes a time when it is no longer practical to keep repairing an old system that increasingly continues to fail over time,” Department of Correction Director of Engineering and Facilities Management Services Steve Link said in a statement to The Day. “Once the new system is installed it will allow staff to focus on more important issues. Above all else, it is a health and safety issue.”
Clarifying that further, Banevicius said, “It’s a 25-yearold system and it’s like any 25-year-old system. It starts breaking,” specifying that the system upgrades are needed more to ensure consistent heating and cooling during winter and summer months rather than issues with York’s air quality. “If any building doesn’t have heat, people will be cold. And if people are cold, they could get sick.”
Beginning the project with an engineering study in 2013, the Department of Correction also has awarded a construction contract with PDS Engineering & Construction Inc. after going to bid for the project in March. Thus far, DOC has received $4.7 million for architecture and design fees, completing design plans for the system last December.
Responding to the plans, state Sen. Paul Formica, R-East Lyme, explained that besides carrying out needed upgrades overall, the DOC also may be considering a switch to natural gas instead of the oil system the facility presently uses, with possible plans to hook into the natural gas line in the Boston Post Road area of town, which may yield more energy cost savings in the future.
East Lyme Public Works Director Joe Bragaw confirmed that idea Wednesday, stating that though the town hasn’t spoken with Eversource about the line in over a year, he has heard of plans to extend the line into the back of the prison’s 425-acre property. Bragaw said the natural gas line currently serves the town’s high school in Flanders and businesses along Industrial Road, as well as the town’s Community Center and elementary and middle schools on Society Road.
“We know we are not closing York because of its unique service, therefore it makes sense to make it as efficient as possible,” Formica said. “I’m hopeful that there was a cost benefit analysis done to make sure that there is a good return on our investment.”
Work on the HVAC installation is expected to begin within the next month and is expected to be complete by June 2022, Banevicius said.
The upgrade will be carried out in phases, beginning with installing “pipeline and plant equipment” and later connecting the upgraded system to York’s dozen-plus buildings. Cooling systems will be replaced in winter months, while heating systems will be replaced in the summer, Banevicius said.
Inmates at the facility likely will need to be shifted around within York to allow for the upgrade. “All attempts to minimize disruptions will be made,” Banevicius said. Presently, 907 women are housed at York.
In the meantime, Banevicius said the DOC staff has worked to ensure that York’s current HVAC system is “working at this time.”