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Wednesday, Jul. 08, 2009

Scott state prison to close in Baldwin County

The Frank C. Scott Jr. State Prison in Hardwick will close Aug. 15, the state’s Department of Corrections announced Tuesday.

The facility, which was built in 1937 as part of the Central State Mental Health Hospital and later opened as a medium security prison in 1981, currently houses 1,784 inmates and employs 281, said Kristen Stancil, a spokeswoman for the DOC.

The facility is being closed because of its age. Most of the prisoners will be transferred to Coastal State Prison in Garden City, she said, which will be opening Fast Track units next month.

“(A Fast Track unit) is a state-of-the-art facility that can house 256 inmates,” Stancil said. “Typically, they can operate with fewer staff members.”

All of the current Scott State staff will be assigned either to Coastal State or to other prisons in the Milledgeville area, Stancil said. Scott is one of three state prisons in Milledgeville. In addition, there are 10 within a 45-minute driving distance from Milledgeville.

Tara Peters, president and CEO of the Milledgeville-Baldwin County Chamber of Commerce, said the state had plans to close Scott for a while, but the chamber didn’t know it would be closing so soon.

Peters said she hopes most of the employees stay within commuting distance of the county to minimize the economic impact of the prison’s closing.

“I’m sure it will have (an economic impact),” Peters said. “Any time an industry closes, it certainly has an affect economically. We certainly hope (the DOC) finds jobs for the people who are displaced, and we hope they spend their money in Milledgeville and Baldwin County. ... It’s a blessing when they can keep their homes in the area.”

Closing Scott could mean a savings of $10 million annually for the state, the DOC estimated.

For more on this story, return to macon.com and read Thursday’s Telegraph.