(DNAINFO) James Fanelli and Jeff Mays | July 14, 2016 — Documents show an ongoing study of closing the jail, including something called ‘Project Sean Connery.’

A presentation given to Deputy Mayor Anthony Shorris in March shows that City Hall first explored the idea of shutting down Rikers Island in June 2015 — and that its study on how to improve conditions at city jails has changed significantly over the past year.

The March 9 presentation, which is available to view below, shows that the City Hall study was initially examining a few options, including just renovating existing facilities at Rikers or a partial closure of the island’s jail coupled with the expansion of borough-based detention centers.

But as City Hall’s study evolved, it dropped the idea of rehabbing Rikers. Instead it focused solely on a complete shutdown by building two 2,000-bed jails off the island and either expanding or renovating borough detention centers.

Source: Rikers Island: The Evolution of City Hall’s Search for a Fix – Hunts Point – DNAinfo New York