To move or not to move: That's question for prison
Decision will be made on whether it'll benefit taxpayers
But now Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. wants to make good on that promise by examining the economics of building an estimated $300 million facility at a new location. The prison has been at its current site since 1951.
In a request for proposals released earlier this month, state officials began the search for a consultant to study the feasibility of relocating the Utah State Prison. That study — which alone will run the state about $140,000 — will include a look at all the costs associated with building a new prison, including demolition, construction, staffing and the impact on inmates.
A large chunk of the study will also look at how much money could flow to the state from selling the roughly 750 acres of south valley land — a figure pegged at about $325 million by Draper city estimates.
But Tammy Kikuchi, spokeswoman for the governor's office, said Huntsman is cautious and will not let those high land values tantalize him just yet. For now, Kikuchi said, the governor is not considering the prison real estate for any specific developments until the feasibility study is complete in December.
At his monthly news conference earlier this month, Huntsman said the decision will be primarily based on whether the decision to move the prison will benefit taxpayers.
"And if we find that the answer is no, I'm going to be less enthused about this as a possibility," he said.
And the Department of Corrections doesn't appear enthused even at this point. Department spokesman Jack Ford said corrections officials are "100 percent behind the feasibility study," but they predict it may not be cost effective in the end to uproot the prison and build from the ground up elsewhere.
Still, talk of moving the prison has south Salt Lake County city planners and developers buzzing about how the large swath of land in one of the fastest growing areas of the state could be used should the prison leave.
Costly improvements
One of the major factors the study will consider is that even if the prison is moved, the final transfer could be 10 to 15 years away. And as that time rolls forward, the state will continue to pump big bucks into repairs and improvements at the Draper prison.
Utah's prison is relatively young, with most of the buildings on the site built during the 1980s and 1990s and the oldest building dating back 50 years. But the wear-and-tear on the structures requires constant upkeep and updates, even if the prison could be torn down in the next several years.
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