Old Kane jail tour shows wrecking ball long overdue

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One of the old housing units sits vacant and decaying at the old Kane County jail on Wednesday, February 15, 2012. | Brian Powers~Sun-Times Media

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Updated: April 3, 2012 11:21AM

GENEVA — If walls could talk, the old Kane County Jail, abandoned since 2008, could tell some interesting tales.

With the official Kane County Board vote last week, the old jail on Fabyan Parkway is set to be demolished.

A Beacon-News reporter and photographer walked the decrepit halls of the jail on Wednesday, accompanied by Sheriff Pat Perez and Lt. Pat Gengler.

The broken-down feel of the building goes further than the crumbling concrete on the sidewalks and overgrown bushes adorning the pale concrete exterior. Inside, it is even more bleak.

There is 3 feet of standing water in the basement. There are holes in the ceiling, where water steadily leaks through. The wiring, HVAC and plumbing are all shot. And there are considerable mold issues.

Repairing the damage in the building to bring it to code would probably cost millions, Perez said.

“People don’t understand how much money it would cost,” Perez said.

These problems spread when the maintenance department ceased caring for the building that the county no longer used. The problems were previously kept in check by a Sheriff’s Department struggling to maintain the property in its later life, even though the building was only in use 35 years.

“These were problems that didn’t occur overnight,” Gengler said. “These were problems we had.”

The building is still used for tactical purposes and training exercises. There are holes in the concrete where the county’s only bomb squad left its mark. Cartridge and shell casings, ammo boxes, crumbling concrete and an assortment of garbage litters the floors of darkened hallways. Glass windows are spider-webbed with gunshot holes and bomb blasts.

The Sheriff’s Department now handles fleet vehicle maintenance at a garage on the Fabyan site, but not connected to the jail. They need an alternative site before the county sells the land.

The sheriff is in negotiations with other local police departments to be able to use their shooting ranges. The department will also be looking to utilize abandoned houses and buildings for tactical exercises before they are razed, Perez said.

Reminders of jail life

Despite the deterioration inside, the building still bears signs of jail life. There are love letters, old photos, prayers scrawled on papers, and cards offering encouragement lying about in the cells and hallways. Gang graffiti scrawled on the cell doors is still legible. Someone carved a chess board pattern into one of the tables.

There are stories of the building being haunted. Faint rustling can be heard at various points in the building. Neighbors have called on occasion because they though there were people inside the building.

The final lineup of inmates for specific holding areas is still displayed on boards outside the rooms. Gengler and Perez well recall some of the inmates who were on that roster.

New site much safer

A lot of the old jail was run without direct supervision over the inmates, Perez said.

An officer would enter the holding areas once every 30 minutes to check on the status of inmates who were in a community room. There were blind spots in the community room that officers could not see, and there were not cameras everywhere. All this led to a dangerous situation.

“There were fights here literally every day,” Perez said.

In the new jail at the county judicial center on Route 38 west of Geneva, there are cameras everywhere in the building, allowing for more direct supervision. Inmates cannot get away with as much. The current jail is a big improvement, Perez said.

Every once in a while, Perez said that he hears the suggestion that the county should use the old jail building for an overflow population. But he said a haunted house may be the only appropriate use for the structure.

If the building was brought back up to code, the county would still have to foot the expense for a full-time corrections staff, and take care of maintenance, food and medical needs.

“This is not a place somebody should move back into,” Perez said.