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Since Pritzker’s office initially announced the administration’s intent to demolish and rebuild the prisons in March, IDOC has given few additional details on plans, which officials say are still taking shape. But a late April filing to the legislative body that oversees state finances and facility closures revealed the administration is leaning toward rebuilding Logan on the same grounds as Stateville in Chicago’s far southwest suburbs.
Attendees of Thursday evening’s hearing took the opportunity to make their position on that idea clear, frequently mentioning the potential economic impact of losing the prison in the same breath as recent closures of two private colleges in Lincoln.
“Governor Pritzker, if you move forward with your plan, you will be the assassin that kills Lincoln, Illinois,” retired Logan staffer Shannon Kelly said to thunderous applause from the audience.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jun 17, 24 @ 11:41 am
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If a prison is the only thing keeping your community viable, you ain’t got one.
See Vienna, Illinois.
Comment by Flyin'Elvis'-Utah Chapter Monday, Jun 17, 24 @ 11:45 am
I truly pity those who believe they are entitled to benefit economically from the incarceration of other people.
Comment by charles in charge Monday, Jun 17, 24 @ 11:57 am
Those smaller govt. doing more with less Logan County GOP folks sure love them some government jobs and spending.
Comment by Give Me A Break Monday, Jun 17, 24 @ 12:01 pm
“If a prison is the only thing keeping your community viable”
I see you completely stepped over this tidbit to get to your fallacious logic…
“potential economic impact of losing the prison in the same breath as recent closures of two private colleges in Lincoln.”
Economics often compares communities to living cells. You need a nucleus, a center, to have an economic start. From there, you can grow. Multiply. Agriculture takes up most space of Logan County, but the micropolitan of Lincoln does rely on both prisons (of which roughly half of its employees live elsewhere) to help fund its economy. It also relied on 2 colleges. The antithesis, perhaps, of a prison. Were you there, in that moment, to apply the same logic? If a college is the only thing keeping your community viable…?
The fact is, the women incarcerated at Logan do need a place to continue their programming. The question is, now, where should that occur?
The Governor’s answer is at the same place men will also be housed. A two-for-one deal it seems. Force incarcerated women to share facilities with men who already have dozens of other locations while women will be relegated to two.
While I do not propose Lincoln is the ideal location, certainly central Illinois, as a region, is the strongest region given the strong diverse geographical differences of the population. If ruby red Logan County offers no political gain for the Governor, then perhaps purple Springfield does? After all, Sangamon County residents do make up half of the workforce at Logan.
Comment by Montessori's Mantle Monday, Jun 17, 24 @ 12:06 pm
- you will be the assassin that kills Lincoln, Illinois, -
How do all those other communities get by without a prison?
The caterwauling of these entitled brats makes me want this to happen even more.
Comment by Excitable Boy Monday, Jun 17, 24 @ 12:07 pm
Maybe they should pick up the phone and call President Warren and see if they could build be a new HQ for the Bears there?
Comment by Jerry Monday, Jun 17, 24 @ 12:16 pm
“if you move forward with your plan, you will be the assassin that kills Lincoln, Illinois”
If my town depended on a prison to have an economy or a reason to exist I’d be the first to suggest it should be killed.
Comment by Larry Bowa Jr. Monday, Jun 17, 24 @ 12:17 pm
The problem with “prison towns” is this: if you take one or the other away, you’ll have neither.
“One-company” towns don’t fare well when the one company leaves. Spending billions of dollars on a prison so a few hundred people can have employment is absurd.
And let’s be honest, if we can: the IDOC is having a tough time finding qualified people to staff these prisons.
Comment by Colin O'Scopy Monday, Jun 17, 24 @ 12:36 pm
==“Governor Pritzker, if you move forward with your plan, you will be the assassin that kills Lincoln, Illinois,”==
The immediate question that comes to mind is, “Maybe it deserves to die?”
But the truth is the governor is treating Lincoln no different than the average Lincoln resident treated students at Lincoln College. What’s good for the goose…
Comment by Google Is Your Friend Monday, Jun 17, 24 @ 12:43 pm
and what is the rationale for moving it? $20-30m payroll out of a small rural town is significant.
Comment by ANON Monday, Jun 17, 24 @ 12:43 pm
Too soon!
Comment by George Ryan Reynolds Monday, Jun 17, 24 @ 12:49 pm
===I see you completely stepped over this tidbit===
You may have stepped over this
“Unfortunately, the bigoted behavior has not been limited to online activities. Our students have also had to endure vehicles displaying confederate flags driving through campus and incidents of shouting insults and threats. This behavior would be appalling in any community, but it is incomprehensible how anyone living in a city named for Abraham Lincoln could display flags that pay tribute to those who tried to destroy our nation.”
https://pantagraph.com/news/local/education/lincoln-college-president-speaks-out-against-incidents-seen-as-racist-directed-at-students/article_7c5fc984-a413-5ea1-99f9-42b186a18e40.html
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Jun 17, 24 @ 12:50 pm
- and what is the rationale for moving it? -
It’s reached the end of its useful life and there’s no good reason to rebuild it in Lincoln.
Comment by Excitable Boy Monday, Jun 17, 24 @ 12:55 pm
=Force incarcerated women to share facilities with men who already have dozens of other locations while women will be relegated to two.=
While I don’t see where the plan is to have men and women in the same building’s or cell blocks.
It would appear by reading a NY Times article that exactly what you are against is exactly what happened when Logan opened.
https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/01/us/women-blend-in-with-men-at-illinois-prison.html?unlocked_article_code=1.0U0.oHt1.UzXSZVXqCLfr&smid=url-share
Comment by Cool Papa Bell Monday, Jun 17, 24 @ 1:10 pm
A town sustained by women’s imprisonment. That’s rough.
Comment by Politix Monday, Jun 17, 24 @ 1:26 pm
The 447 employees of Logan will be shortlisted for IdOC jobs elsewhere or other state jobs in Springfield, 40 minutes away, which isnt ideal but isnt awful.
As for Logan County: As ye reap, so shall ye sow.
Maybe you can turn it around with some Abraham Lincoln tourist attractions and historical sites.
Comment by Juvenal Monday, Jun 17, 24 @ 2:10 pm
=You may have stepped over this=
Ouch. Speaking of fallacious logic, maybe Lincoln should consider their local culture and the self hate of the rebel flag waving citizens.
Comment by JS Mill Monday, Jun 17, 24 @ 2:14 pm
==The Governor’s answer is at the same place men will also be housed. A two-for-one deal it seems.==
Have you looked at a map of Logan, and where it is relative to Lincoln Correctional?
Comment by Anon62704 Monday, Jun 17, 24 @ 2:18 pm