Community awaits verdict on Logan Correctional closure

LINCOLN, Ill. (WAND) — The sights and sounds of summer have faded into a fall glow in Lincoln.

The softball fields are quiet — but the sounds of a late July tournament continue to echo off the nearby corn fields. The organizers, AFSCME Council 31, threw the tournament together to draw attention to the pending closure of Logan Correctional Center.

The issue?

There's still no concrete plan from the Illinois Department of Corrections on when the prison will shut its doors for good.

"This would be another kick to the teeth if this were to come to fruition," said Kenny Johnson, a corrections officer at the prison and the president of the union representing its workers.

This wouldn't even be Lincoln's first strike of the last few years. That would be the closure of Lincoln College in 2022. Strike two then came with the shutdown of Lincoln Christian University in May. Logan's closure could be strike three.

"I've lived in Logan County for 42 years," Johnson said. "[I've been here] all my life."

The pending closure would leave 450 workers out of a job — and more than 1,000 prisoners looking for a new home within IDOC.

"Morale is at an all-time low," Johnson said. "If this place is going to close in three to five years, why would I stick around to find out?"

State lawmakers approved $900 million in the last budget to fund the eventual closure of Logan Correctional Center and Stateville Correctional Center in Will County. IDOC shut down Stateville in September. The goal is to build a new prison near the Stateville site and move both prison populations into the new facility.

"Logan only stays open if the infrastructure keeps functioning," said Chuck Stout, the IDOC liaison for AFSCME Council 31. "The most visible impact is just the unknown."

The unknown extends deep into the heart of Lincoln's economy. The downtown small business culture thrives thanks to employees spending their money here. When a place like Logan Correctional — or one of the colleges — shuts down, the job losses often extend into the the retail and restaurant industry, impacting dozens of other families.

Andrea Runge heads Lincoln Economic Advancement and Development (LEAD), working with elected leaders to attract and retain major employers.

"Those kind of longstanding institutions, when they shake or falter — or in some of these cases — shutter, I think it's hard for the people who live here because they belong to them as much as they would to anyone else," she said.

IDOC declined an interview. But in a statement, the department acknowledged "the construction of a new Logan Correctional Center and the eventual closure of the existing facility is a significant decision that impacts the lives of our staff and individuals in custody at Logan and also their families, local communities, and the Department’s Division of Women and Family Services as a whole."

But even as the potential move looms overhead, Johnson's union and the entire community plan to keep on swinging — down to their last strike.

"This is a fight," Johnson said. "This is a fight we're willing to take on — we're going to take on. We're going to leave no stone unturned."