Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. — A proposal to sell a state prison in Green Bay is up for a state Senate public hearing.
The measure to be considered Thursday calls for selling the 120-year-old Green Bay Correctional Institution and building a new facility in Brown County or an adjacent county.
Under the Republican bill, a private entity would build and own the new prison, allowing the home county and other jurisdictions to collect property taxes on it.
Supporters say a new prison is needed because the current one is over capacity and needs costly repairs.
The prison was originally a bicycle factory and in 1897 was a reformatory for men. It’s now a 29-acre maximum security facility with an imposing perimeter wall and guard towers. The original stone-clad reformatory is on the National Register of Historic Places.