Downey & Scott provided specific cost verification and evaluation services for Laurel Hill Development, formally known as Lorton Prison Farm. The land and historic builds onsite are a part of a larger adaptive reuse project for a mixed-use development that brings together commercial, retail, and multifamily facilities; while preserving the historical significance of the buildings and site.
Our team reviewed, adjusted, and updated a previous budget developed in 2009 and made needed adjustments in the scope of work. This adaptive reuse area includes the original historic prison Theodore Roosevelt commissioned for the District of Columbia at the beginning of the 20th century. The purpose was to place inmates in a place where they could be rehabilitated through a hard day's work, fresh air, and natural light; while being given a place to live and work that would hopefully instill a sense of order and responsibility. Lorton Prison Farm became more like a campus than a traditional inner-city jail and a model for Progressive-Era correctional facilities.
Over the years, as Lorton grew to accommodate over 8,000 inmates, and attitudes and challenges within the field of corrections changed, the facility's appearance changed as well. By the mid-1980s, the Lorton complex consisted of four separate prisons and over a million square feet of space for adult male offenders and young male and women offenders.
