TAMMS PRISON TO OPEN IN '98

TAMMS, Ill. -- Finishing touches are being put on the Tamms Correctional Prison, which is scheduled for opening early next year.

The super maximum-security prison, which will be home to 500 of the state's most violent and troublesome inmates and be used for executions, is on schedule.

Warden George Welborn said Thursday he expects the first inmates to arrive as soon as January.

"The prison buildings will be completed on schedule (next month)," said Welborn. "We still have to fix up all the little things, and we don't have an exact date for accepting prisoners."

Some prison guard classes have been completed and others are being conducted; prison administrators are writing regulations for the prison; and crews are wiring electronic locks, alarms and cameras.

"This is the time in any prison project that takes the longest to finish," Welborn said. "We're really busy."

The first group of 51 trainee guards recently completed initial schooling and has been sent to other maximum-security prisons -- Statesville near Joliet, Menard at Chester and Pontiac -- for further training, said Welborn.

Graduates of two more trainee classes and about 85 experienced officers from other prisons will make up the prison's 250-member staff, he said.

Welborn said he expects inmates to begin arriving shortly after all work is completed. The population will be drawn from other prisons, he said.

Tamms was designed specifically to deal with difficult prisoners. There will be no group activities: Prisoners will be fed in their cells and escorted in handcuffs by two guards when they visit the doctor or see a visitor.

The prison is about security, said Welborn, who has more than 20 years of experience with the Illinois Department of Corrections, including four years as warden at maximum-security Menard. Inmates will spend 23 hours a day in their cells. "They are not put into situations where they will be around other prisoners," said Welborn.

There will be no group activities so there will be no guard towers.

Super-max prisoners will have exercise privileges, one at a time, in a 15-by 30-foot area, with no recreational equipment. They will be permitted to shower, one at a time. They will be fed in their cells and when they have to report for health services or have visitors, they will be cuffed and guarded by two corrections officers.

The cell doors are electronically controlled from control rooms with bullet-proof glass.

Inmates will not be permitted to have a radio or television the first six months at Tamms. Then, they can buy them if they have not caused any problems.

Prisoners will be housed in 48, 10-man cell blocks. The prison also includes a special 20-bed cell block for prisoners who are being processed for transfer.

The $70 million-plus prison, approved for the Tamms area in October 1993 -- will also include an execution chamber. Statesville Corrections Center has been the site of executions since Illinois reinstated the death penalty in 1990.

The Tamms prison will not have a death row, but will include rooms and facilities for inmates families and attorneys.

Tamms will be the site of all executions in Illinois. Inmates who are sentenced to death will still be housed at Menard and Pontiac correctional centers, both maximum-security prisons. An inmate will be transferred to Tamms a day or two before their scheduled execution by lethal injection.

The prison will employ about 450 workers. About 85 workers are already employed at the Tamms work camp. The $7.3 million work camp, with about 200 minimum-security prisoners, is already in operation.