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SUNNY Temp: 55 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Thursday, November 21, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend September 15, 2002 Prison work to start in 2008 Walker doesn’t think the disputed project will happen; state officials say it’s a done deal By JILL BRISKEY Mail Tribune State officials say they still have no immediate plans to build a 400-bed minimum-security prison in White City. They’ll wait until they need it, and they estimate that will be about six years. About the planned White City prison A prison scheduled to be built in White City will be a minimum-security facility, but state officials say it will still have a fence to keep inmates from escaping. According to Program Manager Bobbi Burton of the Oregon Department of Corrections, inmates at the prison will most likely be serving the last 16 to 18 months of their incarceration. "Any type of offenders could be housed at that facility," Burton said, "prisoners with three years or less on their sentence." However, Burton said corrections officials will look at several risk factors before assigning men to the facility. Inmates at state minimum-security prisons sleep in a dorm or barracks-like room with bunks rather than in cells. They take part in work crews. Burton said those crews will perform chores for the state or will be hired out by outside parties. Minimum-security prisons are locked at all times, staffed by correctional deputies and are equipped with video camera equipment to monitor prisoners. With the current state prisoner population at more than 11,000, state employees this week said they won’t start building in Southern Oregon until 2008, when the number of inmates serving time is expected to reach 14,128. "We don’t build any beds before we need them," said Perrin Damon, a community manager with the Oregon Department of Corrections. Gov. John Kitzhaber chose the Stimpson Gulch site in northeast Medford for both a minimum- and medium-security facility in 1997. His decision sparked a wave of protest and controversy from neighbors and local government leaders who did not want a prison built in the Rogue Valley. Over the years, work on the first phase of the project — the minimum-security facility — has been pushed back from 2004 to 2005, and now to 2008, leaving many people wondering if it will ever happen. "This board has always been totally against it," said Jackson County Commissioner Jack Walker, adding that the state cannot afford to complete the project. "That thing is never going to go through. The state cannot even provide us with the ... guaranteed money they said they would provide to us to maintain the Talent (jail)." However, Department of Corrections program manager Bobbi Burton said the White City prison is a done deal, and added that the first phase of the construction will wrap up in December 2009. She anticipates that inmates will be moved in a month after construction is complete. In 1997, Diane Davidson, president of Land Owner Resource Management Corp., and another landowner appealed Kitzhaber’s choice in favor of what they said was a more suitable location in Medford. But the Oregon Supreme Court upheld the governor’s decision in 1998. The state in 1999 purchased the Stimpson Gulch site — five miles northeast of Medford and roughly between Foothill Road and the end of Kershaw Road — for $865,000. The land was part of a ranch owned by Harold Looney. Davidson, who made an unsuccessful bid for county commissioner in May’s primary election, said that building a prison at Stimpson Gulch will harm wetlands and prohibit the expansion of the county’s nearby sports park. Commissioners in 2000 tabled work to update the sports park’s master plan because of the potential construction. "There’s a lot of facts that support it not being there," Davidson said. "No one wants it here. There’s a pretty huge fight to get it out and I don’t think it will go away by 2009." Burton said, there is no current pricetag on the White City prison facility. But a similar, 400-bed minimum-security prison in Madras will cost an estimated $25 million. Work on that project began in July. And it’s unclear if this year’s state budget woes will have any effect on the project’s current timeline. It’s also uncertain when the state plans to build an additional medium-security facility on the Stimpson Gulch site. "It’s part of our 10-year plan," Burton added. Prisoners from both security level facilities would not mix, and the medium-security prison would have more than 1,000 beds, she said. The state in autumn will break ground for a 400-bed minimum-security and 1,300 bed medium-security facility in Lakeview. That project will cost an estimated $148 million. Reach reporter Jill Briskey at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy webmaster feedback A D V E R T I S E R S