CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – New Hampshire corrections officials told lawmakers Wednesday there isn’t enough money in the capital budget to build a much-needed 500-bed addition to the Berlin prison.

The $10 million that Gov. John Lynch included in his budget will pay for a warehouse, a halfway house, road improvements and some other work to get ready for the expansion, corrections officials said.

They said the project will cost an estimated $37 million.

The state’s prison system was designed for 2,000 but currently houses about 2,600, said Administration Director Robert Mullen.

Nevertheless, the agency asked the House Public Works and Highways Committee to shift $1.5 million from the $10 million designated for the Berlin project to start work on a residential treatment unit for mentally ill inmates. The state must create the unit in response to a superior court order. The agency will need another $1.7 million in the next budget cycle to finish the project.

Mullen said the agency would be back in two years asking for money to finish the Berlin prison expansion.

Committee members questioned if the $37 million estimate was accurate since the price was based on $50,000 per bed, well below the $101,000 per bed cost to build the Merrimack County jail in 2004.

Mark Whittemore, administrator of the public works bureau, said some work had been done when the prison was built which would bring down the cost.

Committee members also questioned the need to spend money on improvements at Berlin and spend $500,000 to prepare a master plan of the prison system.

Assistant Corrections Commissioner Les Dolecal said the Berlin project is a key part of the agency’s plan for the future. She said she hopes the master plan study will include county jail needs.

“We need to plan better what we need to build and don’t need to build,” she said.

AP-ES-03-14-07 1655EDT