NEWS
November 24, 2009
New Iowa State Penitentiary Fort Madison plans unveiled
Planning is nearly complete, and in just a few months work will begin on a brand new multi-million dollar maximum security prison in Fort Madison.
The new Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison will be located on highway X38 where Prison Farm 1 is located.
Plans call for it to have three separate buildings to house maximum and medium security inmates, a mental health center, and more than 44 acres of grounds surrounded by hi-tech motion detection fences.
"When the original cell house row was built they didn't have computers, they didn't have all of that technology, and so we're going to really be able to integrate that technology, digital and analog cameras as well throughout the whole facility we'll have better vision, better visual line of sight with the offenders," says Rebecca Bowker, Executive Officer for ISP.
Calls for a new prison started in 2005 when two inmates escaped from the existing maximum security prison.
Now after years of planning, and political discussion work on the new prison is set to begin next spring.
But the new 800 bed facility will go beyond just locking up criminals, it'll have features that will make it easier to rehabilitate the inmates who will eventually be released.
"That's one of the unique design processes with this, we're really emphasizing re-entry. Having our offenders re-enter the community with a proper education, programming and training they need," says Bowker.
Right now the prison planning team is putting the finishing touches on the design, work on the prison is expected to be complete by 2013.
The new prison is not expected to create any new jobs but the penitentiary will maintain its current staffing level.
The state is bonding $130 million dollars to pay for construction of the facility.
Parts of the existing prison will still be used as an re-integration facility for inmates scheduled to be release.
The John Bennett unit will also be used to house minimum security inmates
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