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 The agreed-upon price of $165 million for the Thomson Correctional
Center in the northwestern corner of the state is less than its
appraised value of $220 million, state lawmakers confirmed
Wednesday.
However, Rich Carter, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo, R-16th
District, said the Illinois congressman has not heard anything about
a sale.
"The federal government doesn't have any money," Carter said. "There
may be an agreement, but there cannot be a sale without any money to
buy the prison."
State Sen. Mike Jacobs, D-East Moline, said Illinois needs the money
sooner rather than later.
"Maybe we won't have to cut some kid's program, because right now we
are in the process of cutting $2.4 billion out of our budget,"
Jacobs said. "... And maybe this will save a few programs that we
won't have to cut out."
State Rep. Patrick Verschoore, D-Milan, said he was disappointed in
the price, but "there is no sense in having something in that good
of shape sitting there empty."
In 2001, former Gov. George Ryan built Thomson to ease state prison
overcrowding. But because of state budget cuts and politics, the
prison has sat empty for nearly a decade.
State Rep. Jim Sacia, R-Pecatonica, said the price is actually more
than the cost to build the prison.
"Let's get it open. Let's put people to work," Sacia said. "Let's
bring the financial economic impact to our community."
State Rep. Richard Morthland, R-Cordova, said the prison will
provide thousands of new jobs to his district, which runs from just
north of Thomson and Savanna to the middle of the Quad Cities.
Morthland said the governor reached the agreement almost two weeks
ago, but the state will need approval from Congress to sell the
prison to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Lawmakers were told to keep
it under wraps until funding and an opening date were set.
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U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., is working with the Federal Bureau of
Prisons to reprogram federal funding to turn Thomson into a federal
maximum-security prison.
"He hopes this can be done as soon as possible so that the purchase
can move forward and bring with it the jobs and economic development
so important to the region's future," Durbin's spokeswoman Christina
Mulka said in an email.
Thomson would not house terror suspects from the Guantanamo Bay
military prison in Cuba, Mulka said. Prospects of bringing
terrorists to the Land of Lincoln weren't received warmly by people
living near the prison.
Grant Klinzman, the governor's press secretary, said Quinn is moving
forward with the sale.
"We are continuing to work with the federal government regarding the
sale of Thomson Correctional Center. We hope to complete the sale as
soon as possible," Klinzman said in an email.
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By DIANE S.W. LEE]
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