Lydig Construction Inc., of Spokane, has been awarded a $23 million contract to build a 49,000-square-foot medical structure at the Washington State Penitentiary, in Walla Walla.


About half of the new structure, to be called the Health Services Building, will be used for inpatient services at the high-security prison, says Nanette Graham, a project manager with the Washington state Department of Corrections. It will have 46 infirmary beds for medical patients and 18 beds for mental-health patients, Graham says.


The other half of the structure will house a medical and dental clinic and will include 10 exam rooms, she says.


Lydig will begin construction on the building on Sept. 2, and the project is scheduled to be completed in about two years, Graham says.


A smaller health clinic and infirmary at the penitentiary will remain in use.


The prison housed about 2,130 inmates as of Aug. 22.


The structure will be built with heavy use of concrete, steel, and reinforced masonry due to the prisons high-security inmate population, she says. It will have one main floor and a small second floor. Ambia-Inc., of Olympia, designed it.


Lydig recently completed a $7.5 million project at the penitentiary, which included preliminary site work for the health-services project and work on outdoor lighting, Graham says.


Lydig also has teamed up with Hunt Construction Group, of Phoenix, in a joint venture to build the $160.5 million Coyote Ridge prison expansion at Connell, Wash., a small town 100 miles southwest of Spokane. The 1,782-bed, medium-security Coyote Ridge expansion is expected to be completed early next year.


Contact Mike McLean at (509) 344-1266 or via e-mail at mikem@spokanejournal.com.