Gitmo Detainees in Michigan - Final
Nope.
No detainees from Guantanamo in Standish, Michigan.
Not now. Not ever.
The fat lady has done sung her song.
Word from the White House that the soon-to-close state prison in Standish, Michigan is now out of the running to house the detainees. Likewise, the federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas is also a no-go. Apparently, a U.S. location is close to being selected, but it's anybody's guess where that location is.
That's it for Standish Max. It will close due to budget cuts by the end of the year. Three hundred people will lose their jobs and the area will lose 15 million in tax revenue. They are holding out hope that Pennsylvania will want to transfer some of their over flow of inmates to the facility, but it's just in the talking stages.
Previous blogs on this subject:
Misquoting Dorothy Gale
Gitmo Detainees Heading to Michigan Prison? ~ Update
Gitmo Detainees in Michigan - Part III
Gitmo Detainees in Michigan - Part IV
Gitmo Detainees in Michigan - Part V
No detainees from Guantanamo in Standish, Michigan.
Not now. Not ever.
The fat lady has done sung her song.
Word from the White House that the soon-to-close state prison in Standish, Michigan is now out of the running to house the detainees. Likewise, the federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas is also a no-go. Apparently, a U.S. location is close to being selected, but it's anybody's guess where that location is.
That's it for Standish Max. It will close due to budget cuts by the end of the year. Three hundred people will lose their jobs and the area will lose 15 million in tax revenue. They are holding out hope that Pennsylvania will want to transfer some of their over flow of inmates to the facility, but it's just in the talking stages.
Previous blogs on this subject:
Misquoting Dorothy Gale
Gitmo Detainees Heading to Michigan Prison? ~ Update
Gitmo Detainees in Michigan - Part III
Gitmo Detainees in Michigan - Part IV
Gitmo Detainees in Michigan - Part V
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I appreciate having this followed and reported.
September 28, 2009 8:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Flower,
Thanks for update and the whole series! So, the site will just sit there eroding after they close prison facilities?
Has to be another use for the property. Has community explored any other options?
Rec'd.
September 28, 2009 9:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
As far as I know, there have been no plans put in place to reuse the buildings, Auntie.
Standish is gonna be a ghost town. Again. It was as good as dead several decades ago when the new freeway, I-75, was built, by-passing the town and decimated the tourist business. Then the prison was built and the town was reborn. Now, it's as good as dead a second time.
September 29, 2009 10:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you for the wrap up Flower. I dunno. Politics gets in the way of good programs.........
September 28, 2009 10:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
If only we could export ignorance our country would be healthier and more economically stable...
September 29, 2009 2:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
Wow. I'm hard-pressed to come up with an adaptive re-use for this one, Flower, to keep people employed.
If three cells became one suite -- consisting of small sitting room/bedroom/bathroom -- if bars were replaced by walls, if concrete floors were tiled or carpeted, if elevators were installed at the end of each tier...if, if, if.... would the result, in the end, be any more habitable or user friendly? As: a) residential rehab facilities (if for substance abuse --maybe for the same population; or, b) for physical therapy for vets waiting for extensive rehab)?
Or would the taint of its prior use always be oppressive and depressing?
Any other ideas?
September 29, 2009 8:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hmmmm. Rehab facilities. You know, that's not a bad idea, Wendy S. The facility is only 20 years old...fairly young for a building.
I have not heard anything about future plans for the empty prison....or for the several other prisons/prison camps about to close in the state. The state government is working overtime right now trying to balance the budget by Oct. 1 by cutting K-12 education, community health services, prisons, and more to make up for about a billion dollar shortfall. A lot of states are facing the same situation.
There is one thing, besides the no money thing, that might stand in the way of an idea for reuse for this particular building. It is in a fairly remote area....there is not quick access to other facilities or businesses that might be needed for rehabbing returning vets. I mean, there's a lot of places to buy fishbait, but not much more.
Neither would there be the professionals available to staff a rehab center. The prison was the industry in Standish. It was the main employer, and there was little call for diversifying local talent. I mean, who ever thought we'd run out of criminals? (There's a joke in there somewhere that isn't very funny.)
As to the mention of whether or not the prison taint would remain behind to cast a pall...I don't think it would. The location of the facility is in a rural, wooded area. It's quite tranquil, in a way, and such a setting would be a help toward the mental part of rehabbing, to my way of thinking. Just get rid of the razor wire and the gun towers and it's good to go.
September 29, 2009 10:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
I could do a great redesign if someone provided the rotating knives.
September 29, 2009 1:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, gee, Donal...couldn't you figure out some way to turn that old razor wire into rotating knives? You know, duct tape it to a hand crank or sumpin'? Do I haz to think of everything? ;o)
September 29, 2009 6:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am very much against sending inmates out of state for incarceration. It is brutal to the families who can never hope to visit their loved ones to name just one negative impact. I hope that PA transfers idea fails.
IMO the whole way we respond to the problems of society by locking everyone up has become almost inhumane. Incarceration is now viewed as an economic engine - which just seems fucked up. It is an economic engine built largely on the backs of the "nobodys" (to back-reference a recent poem).
September 29, 2009 5:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Importing criminals isn't real high on my list either, and the added stress on both the inmates and their families makes for a more volatile atmosphere for all concerned, including the guards.
There is something fundamentally wrong with a country that spends more money on locking people up than it does on education. It's crazy.
September 29, 2009 6:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Standish prison is one of three maximum security prisons...
Wow. There are three of these that are closing in MI?
Is maximum security the same as SuperMax? I think that prison is in Colorado.
September 29, 2009 6:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah...kinda makes you wonder how safe it's gonna be to walk around what with all the prisons being emptied out around here. Oh, wait...it doesn't matter because everybody is leaving Michigan anyway...no jobs!
I think the federal level SuperMax in Florence, CO has much tighter control than a state max prison. A higher staff to inmate ratio as well. They have the baddest of the bad guys there.
September 29, 2009 6:58 PM | Reply | Permalink