Wayne County prison rises above ground

By TOM KANE

INDIAN ORCHARD, PA - Work on the new Wayne County prison has begun.

The new facility is located a few hundred yards south of the intersection of Routes 6 and 652 in Texas Township.

The general contractor for the prison construction is Charles W. Grimm Construction Company of Waymart, PA.

The foundations of the $13,636,357 facility are nearly in place and ready to accept the exterior walls, according to project manager Ben Anderson.

“We’re on schedule and have not encountered any serious problems,” Anderson said. “The prison should be completed by the end of 2007.”

The project was many years in the making, having first been planned for the former Stourbridge Elementary School site on Route 6, just west of Wayne Memorial Hospital that now is the location of several county departments. That plan met so much opposition that county officials opted for the present location.

“The county conviction rates are significant and are rising,” said commissioner Tony Herzog.

The fact that many Wayne County prisoners have to be housed in other facilities at a high cost to county taxpayers made the building of the prison a necessity.

“The law requires that a construction project that is bid out must be completed in 450 days, or one year and six months, from the day of approval,” said Victoria Lambert, county secretary. “This project will meet that goal.”