One of the oldest state prisons in Massachusetts is now closed. MCI-Concord, which housed men in a medium-security setting, has been shut down after nearly 150 years in operation.
Shawn Jenkins, the interim head of the state’s Department of Correction, said the closure makes sense because Massachusetts’ inmate population — currently at about 6,000 — has been shrinking.
“Our population is the lowest it’s been in 35 years and I’d like to think the department had a good hand in making that happen,” Jenkins said Wednesday at the prison in West Concord. “So I think ... I wouldn’t describe it as a victory lap, but it’s probably emblematic of the trends that we’re seeing.”
MCI-Concord was about two-thirds empty by the end of June, when some 300 inmates remaining at the prison were moved to other facilities.
Jenkins said that with the closure, over 200 employees who had been working at MCI-Concord have been reassigned to other facilities in need of staff. The Department of Correction said in a statement that in security positions alone, vacancies dropped 48% as a result of the MCI-Concord closure and staff reassignments.
Jenkins pointed out that DOC is having difficulties when it comes to filling vacant positions.
“It’s a challenge to get people to want to work for the department today,” said Jenkins. “The industry has changed. And as a result of those changes, we’re asked to do more inside facilities. And I think that requires additional staff more than we had maybe 10 or 20 years ago. … Even though our population is lower, we still need additional staff for the kind of work that we’re now doing inside.”
Jenkins said that additional staff are needed to provide mental health services, medical services, and to treat the growing majority of incarcerated people who need medical treatment for substance use disorders.
The closing of the Concord state prison will help in cost-savings and budget reallocation, Jenkins said. And he pointed out that the prison, which has been updated several times since its inception in the late 19th century, still had a hefty price tag owed by the DOC to perform needed modernizations, including temperature control.
“We’re saving up annually about $15 [million] to $16 million a year [in operations costs], by closing the facility,” Jenkins said. “And more importantly, we saved ourselves about $190 million in infrastructure costs that were going to be needed to continue to make the facility usable.”
Local lawmakers were full of praise for the closing of the prison.
“Today marks a full-circle moment for my hometown. In 1878, Concord petitioned the Legislature to locate the prison in West Concord upon the closure of the Charlestown Jail. And nearly 150 years later, that prison is ceasing operations,” said state Rep. Simon Cataldo. “MCI-Concord’s closure is a result of over two decades of landmark criminal justice reform enacted in Massachusetts. I applaud the Department of Correction for its partnership in these efforts.”
The timeline of what will happen to the decommissioned prison is not precisely known, said Jenkins.
The DOC said disposing of the property requires approval of the Massachusetts Legislature. Eventually, the property could be redeveloped, perhaps paving the way for sorely needed housing.
“Courtesy of the Department of Correction, one of the oldest and most distinguished towns in America is closer to gaining the equivalent of a whole new neighborhood,” said state Sen. Mike Barrett. “Kind of amazing, and a tribute to Massachusetts’ capacity to renew itself.”
