PRISON UPDATE: CHARLESTON PREPARES FOR CONSTRUCTION START

CHARLESTON -- Eight months after being named the home of the first maximum-security prison built in Southeast Missouri, Mississippi County residents are finally seeing the facility move from paper to reality.

Some 107 contractors hopeful of winning the bid to build the $73 million, 1,500-bed Charleston Correctional Center visited the city earlier this week to learn the plans and specifications of the project. Bids will be opened Aug. 13 in Jefferson City, with construction to begin a month later.

Former state Rep. Betty Hearnes, a longtime Charleston resident and wife of former Missouri Gov. Warren Hearnes, led representatives from the city of Charleston and Mississippi County Industrial Authority in successfully bidding for one of two new state prisons last November. Licking, a town of about 1,400 in south-central Missouri, was the other site.

She said city residents and business people were "ecstatic" to see the large number of contractors interested in building the prison. Many local volunteers were on hand to show the guests the prison site and town and to help with the pre-bid conference.

"We wanted them to feel welcome because in the future we're going to be working with a lot of these people," Hearnes said. "I think everybody is excited to see this thing finally getting off the ground."

State officials said construction of the two facilities is slightly behind schedule, but both sites are expected to be completed in early 2000. The Licking prison should be completed a month before Charleston's facility. Charleston's prison will sit on 120 acres newly annexed into the city, about 300 feet off Highway 105 near I-57.

Some 439 jobs and $9.1 million annual payroll will accompany the prison's opening, which local officials said will greatly aid the area's sagging economy and the city's unemployment rate of nearly 10 percent.

"I think the majority of people are very excited it's about to get off the ground," said Sophie Dugan, executive director of the Charleston Chamber of Commerce. "I think this could be a very big opportunity for Charleston."

Dugan said relocation packages have been sent to physicians and health professionals encouraging them to work in the city, and several new businesses have opened or are inquiring about relocation opportunities. The key to future development will provide adequate and attractive commercial and residential property so people want to work and live in the city, she said.

"(The prison) will help the entire region but we would like to see people to stay here," said Dugan. "Our schools, our city, our county would benefit from them being here."

Assistant city manager John McMinn said local officials from Charleston, nearby East Prairie and the county have been actively recruiting new businesses since the prison announcement was made. Long-standing rivalries between the two towns, which are the largest in the county and have a combined population of about 10,000, are being put aside so everyone can work together to develop land for housing and other needs, he said.

"We're trying to change the rivalries between Charleston and East Prairie," McMinn said. "We're trying to come up with a way we are all working towards the same goal so we all can benefit."

McMinn and Hearnes said they are working with area colleges and agencies to make sure job training opportunities are available for potential prison employees. Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff has agreed to set up classes in correctional guard training and other courses. Additional learning opportunities are available at Shawnee Community College in Ullin, Ill., and Southeast Missouri State University, which offers courses at its campus in Cape Girardeau and in an extension center in Sikeston.

"We've got the resources when it comes to getting the job training developed," said Hearnes. "We've got a good city, a good county here, and we're ready to show it."

PRISON FACTS

Jobs: 439.

Prison beds: 1,500.

Payroll: $9.1 million annually.

Construction to start: Sept. 14, 1998.

Expected completion: Spring 2000.