If Bill Hart knows one thing about construction, it’s that prices keep going up.
“If it costs a dollar today,” he said, “it costs a dollar and one cent tomorrow.”
The longer New Hampshire waits to replace its men’s prison in Concord, then, the pricier it’s going to get, said Hart, commissioner of the state’s Department of Corrections.
To build a new facility will now cost at least $750 million, a design firm estimated, up from the $600 million projected two years ago. That’s with an aggressive timeline and if state officials were to greenlight it immediately.
State leaders regard the prison replacement as the largest capital project in New Hampshire history.
A state-commissioned preliminary study obtained by the Monitor details a recommended design and cost estimates for a 1,500-bed facility that’s more compact than the current prison and emphasizes operational efficiency and access to services.
Currently, it anticipates the price range to land between $749.3 million and $786.8 million.
Quick action from the state is unlikely. Officials have balked for years at the price and slowed their roll in hopes of finding a cheaper option, only for costs to swell. When the Executive Council originally commissioned Omaha-based DLR Group to conduct the site study and preliminary design layout in 2024, the total estimate was $600 million.
“Delay is not free,” said Councilor Karen Liot Hill, a Lebanon Democrat. She added that the timeline provided, with inmates occupying the new facility in 2031, isn’t realistic in her view. “There’s going to be escalation of costs from where we’re at now, and further delays, either by the Executive Council or by the Legislature, are going to make those costs go up.”
State officials widely agree that each pause in progress is delaying the inevitable, though some councilors argue that a delay could be worth the potential savings to do their homework and find the most cost-effective option.
John Stephen, a Manchester Republican, said he wants to see alternatives from other design firms and explore partial replacement or repairs instead of just a complete rebuild.
“What is absolutely necessary, and what can we live with? What can we and the taxpayers of New Hampshire live with, to be able to live within our means here?” Stephen said.
The project is long overdue, and state officials have stressed an imminent need to replace the facility’s aging infrastructure and outdated design, which was first built in 1878 and expanded in the 1980s. The state was prepared to take the leap years ago but punted it when a lawsuit moved a replacement of the women’s prison to the top of the queue.
Recent years have seen dire conditions in some parts of the facility, with reports of rats in the kitchen, maggots falling from the ceiling and some areas shrouded in tarps to catch leaks.
“It’s not a question of whether we would like a newer building. That’s not what this is about,” Liot Hill said. “It’s a question of how long the state can safely and responsibly operate an 1878 facility with failing security, food service and basic infrastructure.”
Hart said if the state doesn’t act, a lawsuit is likely to force its hand.
“This is probably the single most necessary government project that we’re going to embark upon in the next decade or more,” Hart said. “At some point, if we do not act — responsibly, thoughtfully and with an eye on cost — that responsibility will be given to the courts.”
What’s included?
Spread out as the current facility is, Hart said, it’s difficult to manage — especially with chronically low staffing levels.
The floorplan recommended by DLR Group is a more “compact urban campus concept,” which the firm contends would maximize efficiency while minimizing its footprint to about 65 acres.
“We wanted to consider ways that we could maximize the security, efficiency of the actual building itself using modern technologies, better and clearer sightlines, better and clearer camera and remote tech to assure the safety and security of not only those for whom we’re responsible, the inmates, but also for the staff who work there,” Hart said.
The main building would have inmate housing on the upper and lower floors with supports, services and recreational spaces concentrated on the lower level.
Inmate housing accounts for the lion’s share of the construction cost, estimated to tally at least $338 million. Most of that housing would be medium-security.
The proposal also includes an educational center, family connection center, recreation building and indoor gym.
While some things, like a law enforcement training facility on the campus, are wishlist items that Hart said might be foregone to cut down costs, rehabilitative elements were non-negotiable.
“Given that 90% of the people who we’re responsible for as inmates will return to the community and be my neighbor, rehabilitation is not just a constitutional command; it’s also a statutory and moral command,” Hart said.
The report highlights design features that prioritize rehabilitation and well-being, specifically a “normalized environment with an intended community look and residential feel.” It incorporates natural light, high ceilings and “more humane, dignifying” architecture, which the firm contends would benefit both inmates and workers.
“This should contribute to boosting staff recruitment and retention rates and result in reduced overtime costs for the State,” the report reads.
The Department of Corrections runs heavily on overtime due to chronically low staffing levels and spent $25.8 million on overtime pay alone last year. The nine highest-paid state employees in New Hampshire are corrections officers, with several earning more than $300,000 in 2025, a Monitor analysis found.
As for location, the facility is all but sure to stay put at the campus already owned by the state close to downtown Concord. It’s planned for a spot directly behind the women’s prison, which is right behind the current men’s prison on North State Street.
“It already has public acceptance as the site for the prison, is central to the current labor pool supporting operations and its proximity to the urban core of Concord allows the facility to draw on a wide range of professional resources to support medical and behavioral health needs as well as rehabilitative programming,” the report reads.
Some Concord city councilors begrudge the state’s large footprint in the capital city, including the prison, and said they want it relocated. The 700 acres occupied by the prisons and surrounding land is tax-exempt, and the prisons use city infrastructure and services. The state pays the City of Concord $125,000 each year for emergency services at all its properties.
What’s next?
The Executive Council shot down the next phase of the project, more detailed design options, in April before seeing this report, citing concerns that the proposed $36 million contract with DLR Group to complete that was too expensive. Councilors have called DLR Group the “Saks Fifth Avenue” and “Taj Mahal” of design firms and want to see other bids.
Now, the ball is in Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s court. Any budget proposal to fund the prison replacement and any contract to proceed with the work will stem from the executive branch and require her stamp of approval.
The next step is for the governor to bring a new design contract back before the Executive Council.
The governor’s office did not respond to inquiries from the Monitor. She has said previously that there’s “no doubt there has to be action taken” but that the state will look for cheaper options.
Hart said he’s taking his cues from the governor but warned, as he has many times before, that if officials don’t act soon the cost will become even harder to swallow.
“The need is unequivocal for the state of New Hampshire,” Hart said,” and the longer we wait on this project, the more expensive it will be for the taxpayers of our state.”
