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January 27, 2009
PA: Another New Prison Authorized by General Assembly
January 27, 2009
State to build new prison at Rockview
By Shannon Simcox Email
Collegian Staff Writer
The Pennsylvania General Assembly authorized state funds Monday to build a medium-security prison at the State Correctional Institution at Rockview.
The facility will house up to 2,000 inmates and share administrative and warehouse facilities with the existing prison, according to a press release.
The prison will cost about $200 million, said Ed Myslewicz, Department of General Services Public Relations representative. He expects construction to begin by this summer, he said.
Building of the new facility is part of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections' efforts to minimize the stress of an overcrowded prison system, according to the press release.
Centre County Board of Commissioners Chairman Jon Eich said Rockview State Correctional Institution currently houses about 2,000 inmates. Population within the prison system has grown 21 percent over the past six years and is expected to have an average growth rate of 4 percent per year through 2012, according to the statement.
Eich said the new prison will benefit the community.
An estimated 650 new jobs will be brought in by the prison, helping Centre County keep its unemployment rate at one of the lowest unemployment rates of the state, he said.
"Unfortunately, prison is a growth industry," Eich said. "But it does provide jobs that provide good wages and benefits for family."
The new prison is one of seven new projects in the $862 million program, according to the release. New prisons will be built in Fayette and Montgomery counties, while additional housing units will be added to prisons in Crawford, Forest, Indiana and Northumberland counties, according to the release.
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2009/01/27/state_to_build_new_prison_at_r.aspx
Posted by lois at January 27, 2009 09:03 PM