The roof leak and HVAC system at the Los Alamos County Detention Center have been repaired and the inmates have returned. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

After having to transfer inmates to neighboring facilities due to a roof leak and a failure in the HVAC system New Year’s Day, the Los Alamos County Detention Center was able to re-open ahead of schedule.

Originally, the plan was to have the center re-populated Monday but Police Chief Dino Sgambellone said inmates were able to return Friday.

“We were able to open the Detention Center early due to the great work of our Facilities Department,” Sgambellone said. “All Detainees were brought back on Friday.”

Earlier, Public Works Deputy Director Jon Bulthuis explained that the HVAC system is comprised of four units and the heating coils in each of those unit suffered debilitating failure.

On top of the HVAC system failing, the New Year’s Day snowstorm formed an ice dam around the drain on the detention center roof, causing water to leak into the building, Bulthuis said.

The leak was repaired.

It is uncertain why the heating coils all failed at the same time, but Bulthuis said when a series of similar parts fail simultaneously it is often an indication of a manufacturing defect. The reason the down time for this incident has been longer is because the coils are propriety parts and need to be ordered from the manufacturer, Bulthuis said, adding that the parts cost approximately $1,200 and County workers did the installation.