By Art Golab
Chicago Sun Times
CHICAGO — After eight years of lobbying for something to be done with the nearly empty prison built in his western Illinois town, the news that Washington may have settled on tiny Thomson as the site to house global terrorism suspects brought Mayor Jerry “Duke’’ Hebeler’s dream one step closer to reality.
But the mayor isn’t ready to celebrate just yet.
“I won’t believe it until I see it,’' Hebeler said.
A White House memo leaked Friday said the government should “expeditiously’’ acquire Thomson. The plan calls for most of the facility to be run by the federal Bureau of Prisons and for about 100 detainees now at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to be transferred to the complex.
The memo prompted speculation that the site selection was finalized, but Obama administration officials said the memo was a draft.
Hebeler said he had just sent another letter to state and federal officials pleading for some action on the move, but he hadn’t heard anything officially.
“I don’t think they’d get back to me that fast anyway,’' he said.
But U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and Gov. Quinn, who issued a joint statement, said the memo signals that “the administration has narrowed its focus” to the nearly empty maximum-security state prison in Thomson, population 450, which is 150 miles west of Chicago.
Other politicians, notably U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), have sounded off in opposition to the proposal, but officials from surrounding towns and counties have expressed nothing but support, Hebeler said.
And while Hebeler acknowledges that a few locals may not like the idea of housing terrorists nearby, they haven’t contacted him, he said.
Hebeler said estimates of the jobs that could be created as a result of a federal purchase of the prison range from 1,800 to 3,000.
While that would be a huge economic boost for a depressed area of the state, Hebeler assured that he believes the facility will be highly secure.
“I’d never chase jobs if I thought it would jeopardize safety and security,’' Hebeler said.
Copyright 2009 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.