MOVING DAY IS HERE

2,500 inmates begin transferring from Graterford to new state prison

SKIPPACK » Over 2,500 inmates at an 89-year-old Pennsylvania prison are being transferred to a new, long-delayed facility about a mile down the road.

The Department of Corrections says the first phase of transfers began just after 9 a.m. Wednesday from the maximum security prison at Graterford to the sprawling, $350 million complex at nearby State Correctional Institute-Phoenix.

Several hundred inmates will be moved each day by bus, for however long it takes to complete the operation, corrections officials said.

A spokeswoman said the roads between the facilities are closed to the public during the transfer.

The new prison can house about 3,830 male inmates. It also has a separate, 192-bed female transition unit outside the perimeter.

Pennsylvania has 25 state prisons after closing three in the last five years.

The $350 million, 3,830-bed SCI Phoenix Prison is the largest single contract ever issued by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, consisting

of 1 million square feet, according to Heery International, the design-builder for the prison. It will include two male facilities, named Phoenix East and Phoenix West, as well as a separate 192-bed Female Transitional Unit outside the perimeter which will focus on reentry and family reunification. The unit will be the first of its kind in Pennsylvania.

Among some of the improvements in the new facility are security measures. The prison will have a new type of security fence that will be a significant upgrade from Graterford’s 30-foot stone wall. The fences along the prison are covered at the top and bottom with razor wire and are also equipped with a detection system that would alert guards stationed in the control room if the fence was cut or otherwise manipulated,

down on factors such as noise, according to officials.

The new prison will also include vocational classes such as barber school, with a fully equipped barber shop facility, and other classes such as International Computer Driving License, carpentry,

restaurant professions and ServSafe, warehouse operations and several others. It will also include a law and recreational library, gym and mural arts program.

ASSOCIATED PRESS This file photo shows a tour group entering block D in the west section of the State Correctional Institution at Phoenix in Skippack. The first phase of transferring more than 2,500 inmates from the 89-year-old state prison at Graterford to the long-delayed $350 million SCI Phoenix prison began Wednesday according to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, which plans to bus hundreds of inmates a day to the new prison facility about a mile down the road until all are relocated.

DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA FILE PHOTO The new SCI Phoenix Prison has a number of significant improvements over Graterford including more housing, better security and more educational opportunities for inmates.

according to information provided by Walter Grunder, critical incident manager, during a tour of the facility last year. In addition to the technological advances, officials said fences are a better alternative to walls like the one at Graterford, because they allow for better visibility, an aspect that has been applied to other parts of the prison as well.Living quarters in the new prison in each wing are also designed for safety purposes. The quarters are broken up into smaller sections and individual showers that are visible from the center of the wing have been built to make monitoring inmates easier. The set up of the living quarters is not only meant to make inmates and guards more secure, but also to improve the inmates’ quality of life by cutting

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTOS Shown at left are inmates in a block at the State Correctional Institution at Graterford in Skippack. All 2,500 inmates will move to a new state-of-the-art prison nearby. Shown above is a control center in the west section of the State Correctional Institution at Phoenix in Skippack.