LINCOLN (25News Now) - The City of Lincoln would take another economic hit if the Illinois Department of Corrections has its way to close the Logan County Correctional Center and rebuild the prison for women closer to the Chicago area.
Back in March, Gov. JB Pritzker and IDOC announced plans to tear down and rebuild the Logan Correctional Center after a study found it to be “inefficient, ineffective, and unsuitable for any population.” They didn’t say if a replacement prison should be built in Lincoln or elsewhere.
A report released last Friday recommends relocating the prison on available ground at Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, which is in Will County.
The Executive Director of the John Howard Association, Jenny Vollen-Katz, believes rebuilding upstate will provide more opportunities to incarcerated women.
“That area benefits from a lot of opportunities for programming, for treatment, for volunteer-based activities, and there’s a benefit to that. It is also geographically situated close to the city of Chicago and benefits from being able to get medical care from [University of Illinois Chicago],” Vollen-Katz said.
However, State Rep. Bill Hauter (R - Morton) believes the central location of the current Logan facility is more suitable for most of its inmates and their families.
“A lot of inmate families will move to the area where their loved one is an inmate just so they can visit easier and also help support them,” Hauter said.
“It’s much better for them to live in the Logan County area where the cost of living is lower, housing is lower, and it’s easier for them to travel and see their loved ones than it is to be in the Chicago suburbs,” Hauter said.
There are more than 1,000 women housed at Logan, and according to Vollen-Katz, 34% are from Cook County and the collar counties.
The IDOC’s report says the women would stay at LCC until the rebuild is complete, as long as it’s safe.
“It’s a challenge to move people around on the best of days, and I think when you have a facility that’s in such a state of great disrepair as Logan is, that increases the challenge, so I do think keeping people safe and moving them around the state sensibly has to be a priority for the agency while they’re doing the rebuild,” said Vollen-Katz.
Losing the women’s prison would be the latest economic challenge facing the city named for the 16th U.S. president. Lincoln College closed in May 2022 after 157 years. Lincoln Christian Seminary closed in the spring of last year.
Lincoln’s Mayor Tracy Welch says an economic impact study estimated the city would face a $61 million impact if it were to lose Logan.
“I think we’re doing pretty good rebounding from the losses that we’ve had, but another loss at this level would just set us back further. We hope that the governor’s office understands that downstate is just as important as upstate in Illinois and gives us a fair and equal opportunity to keep that here,” Welch said.
IDOC’s public report notes that Logan County has seen a 1% population decline, or about 2,700 people, since 2010. Those living in the county are 90% white.
The report says Will County is much more diverse and has experienced an increase of 20,000 people to about 700,000.
“These demographic factors are essential as they ensure a robust talent pool from which to recruit and fill positions, particularly in specialized fields such as medical and social work,” the report says.
The IDOC believes it could take just $7 million to complete the transition from the old to the new, instead of spending $116 million of capital funds to keep Logan Correctional Center open and operational.
“They’ve ignored the rebuilding, renovation, and general maintenance of Logan Correctional for so many years that now, we’re at the point where it needs to be demolished and rebuilt. It’s just a travesty that it has come to this,” Rep. Hauter said.
As of March 31, IDOC says Logan employs 454 people, and they all can be employed at other state prison facilities.
“The department intends to take significant measures to minimize the impact of the closure,” the report said.
Local officials have a meeting with the Illinois Department of Corrections on Tuesday to argue their point to keep Logan on the same grounds.
Copyright 2024 WEEK. All rights reserved. This story first appeared on 25newsnow.com.
