By Tom Lisi
LNP
LANCASTER, Pa. — Lancaster County prison officials said Thursday they have bought new, larger fans to try to alleviate some of the sweltering conditions inside the county prison during the summer months.
“They seem to be working out pretty well and appreciated by the inmate population as well as staff,” Warden Cheryl Steberger said Thursday at a prison board meeting.
Last month, eight men incarcerated at the prison contacted LNP — LancasterOnline to complain about the conditions inside. They said temperatures were hitting at least 85 degrees in some housing units.
Steberger said Thursday that prison staff are closely monitoring people inside housing units with no air conditioning to make sure they don’t develop acute health problems.
Officials at the Lancaster County Prison have struggled to maintain parts of the facility over the years. Critical systems for things like heating and electronic door locks have been plagued with problems and have proven difficult to fix.
Outdated building systems make things like finding replacement parts more difficult and more expensive, prison officials have said in the past.
But enduring the heat that develops in housing units when temperatures and humidity increase outside is perhaps the most glaring challenge for people incarcerated at Lancaster County Prison and staff alike.
County officials are in the early stages of building a new prison in Lancaster Township. Last year, officials predicted the project would be completed by the end of 2026.
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