Lowell work camp will open in November

Article published Jun 18, 2007

BY MABEL PEREZ
STAR-BANNER

LOWELL - The women's state prison in Lowell will soon have a new and improved work camp.

The work camp at Lowell Correctional will house 400 female inmates, employ about 70 staff members and open in November.

Outside the prison, bulldozers, dirt trucks and new fencing give clues to the construction.

Gretl Plessinger, public information officer for the Department of Corrections, said the camp will be more "self-supportive" than the previous one there.

The project cost estimates are $10 million and were budgeted from the prison's 2005-2006 fiscal year funds. Department of Corrections officials hope to have two dorms online by November. The first two dorms will house 144 inmates.

According to an e-mail from the DOC, work camp inmates will perform tasks such as picking up trash along roadways, mowing lawns and working with the Department of Transportation on road maintenance projects.

Officials have not chosen which inmates will go to the work camp. However, only minimum- to medium-risk inmates from Lowell Correctional are eligible.

Mabel Perez may be reached at 867-4106 or mabel.perez@starbanner.com.