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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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Majority
Leader Bill DeWeese |
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State official visits sites for new prison
DeWeese touts 700 recession-proof jobs
HARRISBURG, Oct. 21 – Elizabeth O’Reilly, deputy secretary for Public Works at the Pennsylvania Department of General Services, said she and two staff engineers accompanying her obtained all the information they need to proceed with the selection of the site of the new State Correctional Institution to be built in German Township.
O’Reilly, Gary Taylor, director of the Bureau of Engineering and Architecture, and Dan Weinzierl, director of construction, toured two properties in German Township Monday.
"We are looking at millions of dollars in infrastructure, both water and municipal sewage, that this area will receive as a result of the prison’s construction," said state Rep. Bill DeWeese, whose efforts have resulted in the construction of the new facility.
In addition to the infrastructure, the local economy will immediately benefit from building the prison, which is anticipated to cost $200 million. Materials, including concrete, asphalt and stone, will be obtained locally, infusing those dollars as well as construction employees’ wages into the local economy.
Once opened, the new facility will employ approximately 700. Current starting salary for a corrections officer is $29,815 with a 3 percent increase starting this year.
"These are family sustaining, recession-proof, out-sourcing proof jobs," said DeWeese, D-Greene/Fayette/Washington,
State Sen. Richard Kasunic summarized the work session succinctly.
"This is another forward step in a project that will provide an excellent economic benefit to Fayette County," he said.
Secretary O’Reilly anticipates that the final site will be selected around Thanksgiving. Geo-technical work will be conducted and design-build contracts will follow. The anticipated opening of the facility is 2012.
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