Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY — A commission overseeing the building of a new state prison in Salt Lake City is set to hold its first meeting Tuesday afternoon.
The meeting comes less than three weeks after Gov. Gary Herbert signed off on the selection of a new prison site on wetland-rimmed site about 3 miles west of Salt Lake City International Airport.
Utah’s Legislature voted by a wide margin to approve the move during a special session after a commission chose the site following years of debate about the issue.
Proponents say the project will allow Utah to build a state-of-the-art facility allowing for rehabilitation and treatment programs and tear down a crowded, outdated prison in the Salt Lake City suburb of Draper, freeing up that land for business development.