NEWTON COUNTY — A new future has been decided for the historic Newton County Jail House.

The Newton County Board of Commissioners (BOC) voted 4-1 to alter plans relating to the historic building. The move was made during the Tuesday Feb. 18 meeting.

First built in 1901, the 40-person-capacity facility operated as the county’s jail until the size limitations became too great. A newer site replaced it in 1985, followed by an even larger jail that was completed in 2003 and remains operational today. 

Though it has not been used to detain people in decades, the historic jail site remains standing. 

The original plan to repurpose the site outlined museum-like rooms as well as space for the county’s 4-H operations. The design was completed, permits were acquired and the local historic preservation commission gave Prine the go-ahead, asking only that the exterior bars on the windows of the old jail be left undisturbed. That way, it would remain clear for years to come what the building’s original purpose had been.

“The mission that we were given at the beginning of this project was not only to talk about the preservation of the building itself but to repurpose it for the 4-H and the county extension offices,” said Jeff Prine, project manager. “The thought behind that was kind of twofold. One was to remember the past and to commemorate that. Secondly was to kind of rebirth the facility for a new purpose that would give some hope and something of goodness moving forward.”

The project was poised to begin construction, but upon hearing pleas from some wanting the site to undergo less change, the BOC voted to change the old jail’s future.

Nwaka Hughes, the community liaison for the Newton County Board of Commissioners, introduced the board to two individuals who advocated for the county to maintain the historical identity of the jail. 

Representative Tyrone Brooks, one of the Newton Six civil rights activists in the 1970s, and Karcheik Sims-Alvarado, founder and CEO of Preserve Black Atlanta, Inc. addressed the board Tuesday. Upon learning that the cells within the historic jail were set to be removed, they sought to come before the BOC to petition that the cells stay and more efforts to preserve historic accessories of the building be put into place.

“If you remove the cell blocks there is no jail, it's just a building; it's just a shell,” Brooks said. “We want to reiterate to you basically that if you're going to move forward to call this a historic renovation of the Newton County Jail where six of us were held in 1970 for two months in solitary confinement by Sheriff Junior Odum [Henry Odum, Jr.], that you would keep those cells in place, that you do your renovation and whatever else you need to do, but I hope that this board will instruct your contractors and renovators to make sure that the cells are not removed.”

Alvarado described historical integrity as “a building’s ability to convey its historical significance,” and explained that certain features of buildings are what maintain the authenticity of their historical identities. She analogized the removal of the cells with if the county were to replace the iconic clock tower with a digital clock, saying that would remove the historical identity of the courthouse.

“We need these buildings to be able to serve as monuments to talk about what happened inside when textbooks are no longer doing that,” Alvarado said. “...[The buildings] are physical, tangible reminders of things that happened. And when we remove those historical characteristics of the buildings, you miss opportunities, you lose sense of your cultural assets, and you really have a gem here. I really would encourage you to celebrate your history, to protect the buildings.”

The commissioners empathized with Brooks and Alvarado, ultimately going so far as to nix the plan to make the jail a 4-H site.

In a motion made by District 3 Commissioner Stephanie Lindsey, the board voted in favor of prioritizing the preservation of the history at the site, rather than repurposing it. No jail cells will be removed in this endeavor.

Lindsey also recommended that the site be put on a national registry of historic sites to make its preservation permanent. A request that the county entertain this pursuit was included in her motion that the board passed.

Only District 1 Commissioner Stan Edwards disagreed in the vote, which went 4-1.

“What better way than to have kids march in there and see – if you want to teach history then there we go,” Edwards said. “I think it can be repurposed for what Mr. Prine is trying to reuse it for and preserve the historical significance of that facility.”

District 2 Commissioner Demond Mason, who seconded Lindsey’s motion, shared his thoughts during discussion of the item.

“I think initially when we first started having the discussion about the renovation, we were talking about – there was an idea of let's make this a historic museum where residents can come in, take on educational trips through this particular facility where they can understand what that part of history was in this county and all that that encompassed,” Mason said. “Of course, in the midst of having that discussion, it was brought up about having possibly 4-H…of renovating it for that.” 

I think maybe, Mr. Prine, we probably want to revamp this whole project and look at it and do everything that we can to possibly go ahead and preserve it as much as we possibly can, and maybe we do need to find another home for our 4-H programs so that [the jail] can be a major historical site that we can, from an educational perspective, truly be able to tell that story and keep that gem here within our community.”