PRISON WORKCAMP TO OPEN IN MAY

TAMMS, Ill. -- Larry Oller hopes to walk away from the Tamms prison site for the last time in early May.

"Our work here should be done by then," said Oller, project superintendent for River City Construction, which has been building the four-structure, 200-bed work camp near the site of the proposed 600-bed Super Max Prison to be built here. "Everything should be completed on the work camp by mid-May."

Workers are already being hired for the $7.3 million minimum-security work camp, which will be operated as a satellite facility of the prison.

"We'll be ready to open the work camp within the next couple of months," said Nic Howell of the public affairs department of Illinois Department of Corrections. "We have a warden hired, the project is on time, and we're looking forward to the opening."

George Welborn has been hired as warden for the new prison. Welborn, who has 18 years experience with the Illinois Department of Corrections, served four years as warden at the maximum-security Menard Prison at Chester.

"A total of 35 employees have already been hired for the new work camp," said Jerry Reppert, an Anna businessman who headed a multi-county campaign to locate the $60 million super max facility at Tamms. "More than 50 additional employees will be hired before the mid-May opening."

Employees include a variety of workers, from corrections officers to food supervisors and clerical personnel.

Screening applications for central management service testing are available at a number of sites throughout Southern Illinois, including the Tamms Village Hall, Anna-Jonesboro Chamber of Commerce and the Shawnee Community College Small Business Association.

Construction of the super max prison itself should get under way this spring, Reppert said.

Also currently under construction is the new water tower.

"Water, sewer and gas lines have been extended to the site," said Reppert, who added that plans were already intact for a new access road from Illinois 127 to the new prison.

The new road will be 24 feet wide, with 8-foot-wide rock shoulders.

Construction started on the work camp last spring. Five construction contracts, totaling $7.2 million were awarded, with River City Construction as general contractor.

"Everything has gone well," Oller said. "We've had good construction weather, and construction is on schedule."

The camp consists of four buildings, totaling more than 55,000 square feet.

The largest of the buildings is the vocational building, which included the gym, weight rooms and recreation areas. The 91-by-145-foot building is the only two-level structure. The administration building is 81 by 196 feet; the dormitory building is 200 by 60 feet, and the vehicle maintenance structure is 40 by 175 feet.

"The buildings are all near completion," Oller said. "The parking lot and roadway are finished, and we're working on walkways and final gradings on the sites."

When fully operational, the new super max prison will house 500 of the state's most violent inmates. The facility will employ about 385 people and operate on a $17.5 million annual budget.

Originally 30 communities sought the prison before the list was narrowed to five. Tamms was selected as the site in October 1993.