By Bret Pallotto
Centre Daily Times (State College, Pa.)
BELLEFONTE, Pa. — Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration is following through with a proposal to close Rockview state prison, a move aimed at saving tens of millions but one that will upend the lives of hundreds of workers and could damage Centre County’s economy.
The state Department of Corrections said Wednesday it will also close Quehanna Boot Camp in neighboring Clearfield County. Together, Rockview and Quehanna employ about 900 people.
The formal closure decision is expected to be announced by the end of the week, meaning the soonest the facilities could close would be Jan. 19. But the closure became public Wednesday with the release of a final report that continued to recommend shutting down both facilities.
In closing Rockview, the state is putting an end to the facility’s 110-year run as a prison. It opened in 1915 during the second year of World War I and five years before women gained the right to vote.
It’s the second-oldest of the nearly two dozen in the DOC system and the agency has said it would require $74 million in upgrades over the next five years — the highest cost of any state prison.
Shapiro’s administration has further pitched the proposal as a way to save up to $100 million in future fiscal years in the face of shrinking state prison populations, high vacancy and turnover rates among corrections officers, and massive overtime payments.
It was deeply unpopular in Centre County, where a bipartisan group of state lawmakers, the county’s commissioners and the union that represents corrections officers were among those who repeatedly urged the state to reconsider over the past seven months.
Employee transfers could cause serious challenges for families who have carefully coordinated their schedules around child care, schooling and more. The DOC has said all affected employees are guaranteed a job offer at their existing pay and classification within 67 miles of Rockview or Quehanna, but has made no promises about shift assignments.
Staff will not lose seniority, the DOC said in a more than 1,200-page closing report. Transfers and shift assignments are subject to collective bargaining agreements.
The nearest prison for nearly two-thirds of Rockview staff is Benner Township , followed by Houtzdale state prison in Clearfield County and Smithfield state prison in Huntingdon County .
The DOC said about 62% of Rockview staff will be farther from work, while 38% will be closer. The average driving time would drop to 34 minutes from 41 minutes. Moving expenses will not be covered.
Centre County Commissioners Mark Higgins, Amber Concepcion and Steve Dershem estimated the central Pennsylvania economy stands to lose $118 million annually because of the closures. In a March letter that warned of “potential disaster,” the commissioners said any savings at the state level were being taken from Centre, Clearfield and Clinton counties.
Some wondered aloud about the possibility of a partial closure, but deputy secretary for administration Chris Oppman testified during a March state budget hearing that “Shutting down a facility is truly the only way you’re going to save costs.”
The agency also brushed off concerns the closures would cause overcrowding and increased violence, saying there is “no clear relationship between capacity rates and the increase in violence.” The closures are expected to keep male capacity at less than 90% and female capacity at less than 80% in the state prison population.
The Pennsylvania Prison Society has been generally supportive of the proposal, saying it could save money and keep Pennsylvanians safe if done properly. The nonprofit has said Rockview is in serious disrepair.
Inmates would be gradually transferred to facilities that “best meet their individualized programming, security, healthcare and other needs,” the DOC said. What could happen after Rockview closes?
Shapiro’s administration hasn’t said or offered any clues publicly.
Pennsylvania closed a handful of state prisons in roughly the past half-century and not every facility has faced the same fate. One became a popular museum, while others have been sold or are set for a costly demolition.
Three state prisons — Cresson in Cambria County, Greensburg in Westmoreland County and Waynesburg in Greene County — have been sold at auction for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Cresson was sold for $600,000 in 2017, Greensburg was sold for $950,000 in 2015, and Waynesburg was sold for $990,000 in 2005, the state Department of General Services previously told the Centre Daily Times.
The sales, however, have not been a panacea.
State Rep. Eric Nelson, a Republican who serves part of Westmoreland County, said during the March budget hearing that the closure of Greensburg state prison in 2013 touched off a yearslong “blight issue.”
“It’s still a problem in Westmoreland County,” Nelson told top DOC officials. “It’s not a problem on your desk. It’s a problem on our local officials’ desk.”
Oppman, one of the DOC’s top officials, said there are few ideas for what to do with a shuttered prison.
Pittsburgh state prison, for example, closed in 2017 and there was hope the facility’s location — along the Ohio River and only 3 1/2 miles from downtown Pittsburgh — would make it an attractive property.
Instead, the massive complex still sits while a variety of movies have been filmed there. It’s now being prepared for a demolition that Oppman said could cost upward of $50 million.
Retreat state prison closed in 2020 and the Department of General Services said in March that the agency was working to collect necessary surveys and appraisals to obtain legislative authorization for a sale in the future.
Graterford state prison in Montgomery County , meanwhile, sits unoccupied after it closed in 2018 and saw all of its inmates and staff relocate to a new state prison on the same property.
Perhaps the greatest success story can be found at the former Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. The prison was abandoned for nearly two decades until it was redeveloped into a historic site offering tours since 1994.
A 2023 report said the former prison supported nearly 400 jobs, generated $29 million in economic impact in Pennsylvania and drew 266,000 annual visitors. What about Rockview’s land?
With more than 5,700 acres outside of its perimeter, Rockview sits on far more land than any other state prison. Its property is nearly twice the size of State College Borough, five times the size of Bellefonte and just shy of the 5,900-acre Bald Eagle State Park .
The state has said it would have to hold onto at least some of the land for next-door Benner Township state prison. It’s otherwise an unanswered question.
“It is home to some of the largest and most pristine farmland and property in our community. I think there needs to be some very, very, very serious conversations — and I’m hoping with this organization — as to the outcome and the use of that property moving forward,” Dershem said during a commissioners’ meeting in February. “I hope it’s not just a land grab and just go out there and figure out how we’re going to give this property away. I think we need to be thoughtful about it because this is the largest piece of property in the county that’s really unaccounted for.”
Speaking on WFXS-FM earlier this year, state Sen. Cris Dush, R- Brookville, floated the possibility the land could be transferred to farmers who will be displaced by the State College Area Connector.
Nineteen farms and 163 acres of farmland could be subjected to eminent domain if the state Department of Transportation’s preferred route is approved and it’s unlikely a plot of farmland larger than Rockview’s would be available in Centre County.
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