Beauregard Jail to reopen Wednesday after over a year of renovations

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - The Beauregard Parish Jail is set to reopen this week after being closed for over a year for renovations.

“We had a lot of issues with our doors, with our facility,” Assistant Warden Luke Gaspard said. “It was in a lot of disrepair.”

“The police jury stepped up and got a lot of money from the state, from damages from the hurricanes,” Gaspard said. “They were able to come in and change our doors out, change our wiring systems, our cameras. They’ve really stepped the game up and changed just about everything in here.”

Hurricane damage added urgency to the facilities’ many needed repairs, as electronics and door mechanisms were affected during power outages and surges. Gaspard tells 7News, during construction, the project had many setbacks.

“Some of the metal, some of the brickwork, some of the materials we needed to get this done would be months out – 16 weeks, 30 weeks,” Gaspard said.

Beauregard officials took advantage of this time to make overdue renovations and upgrade technology. They purchased a new camera system and tablets and video chat devices for inmates.

“We have all tankless hot water heaters now that run all of the facility water needs,” Gaspard said. “We have 56 cameras, so there are no dead spots. We have a new and upgraded door system. All the technology we could get, we brought in and upgraded it to as much modern technology as we could.”

Inmates are currently housed in several parish jails across the state.

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