Lon Evans Correctional Center

Fort Worth city officials will take part in a ribbon cutting for the Lon Evans Correctional Center on September 18.

The $83 million prison, which features an exterior designed by David M. Schwarz Architects, includes four high-security detention units that are connected to the existing 16-story center by a sky bridge and a tunnel.

Features in the 200,000 square-foot structures include a main kitchen, a central health unit, and a visitation area. In addition, the facility aims for certification as one of the country’s few LEED Gold corrections facilities.

“The Center aims to be a good neighbor to the buildings that surround it,” DMSAS Principal Michael Swartz said in a statement. The facility avoids the usual fortress-like structure of most prisons in order to work with the surrounding atmosphere.

The design nods to downtown Fort Worth’s Texas culture, with Lone Star and longhorn steer decorative panels in the north and south facades. The pink granite on the first floor comes from the same Texas quarry used for the county’s 1895 courthouse and the new Family Law Center.

Other notable works by DMSAS include the Nancy Lee & Perry R. Bass Performance Hall, Sundance West, and Chase Bank Building.