The Healey administration plans to close the state's medium security prison in Concord by this summer.
According to an Executive Office of Public Safety and Security spokesperson, the incarcerated population at the prison stands at about 300 men, or about 50% of the prison's capacity. The prison has been part of the Concord community for more than 150 years.
Gov. Maura Healey unveiled her fiscal 2025 state budget bill Wednesday and noted it costs $16 million to operate the prison each year. It could cost an additional $190 million to update the prison, built in 1878.
The EOPSS spokesperson told the News Service Wednesday morning that the state was experiencing its "lowest prison population in 35 years" and the Concord closure plan reflected the Department of Correction's "ongoing efforts to enhance operational efficiency, advance cost-saving solutions, and deepen investments in programming and services."
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The department plans to start transferring correction officers and incarcerated individuals in the five months remaining in fiscal 2024, and to complete the closure by summertime, the spokesperson said.
The Concord Bridge reported the closure plans on Tuesday, citing Sen. Michael Barrett of Lexington as the source of the news.
"We have been aiming as a legislature and in general to reduce the number of people incarcerated," Barrett said, according to The Concord Bridge. "Obviously, this is a big deal. People are going to be upset, people are going to be caught off guard."
Rep. Simon Cataldo of Concord said news of the closure plans triggered "mixed emotions" due to people with connections to the prison, such as those who volunteer inside the facility and employers who employ inmates through prison programs.
"There are real and profound relationships that are going to be affected by moving all of these people," Cataldo said.
"I have looked out that window many times and hoped that wall had just crumbled," said Carlos Collazo, director of Re-entry at UTEC, a nonprofit focused on violence intervention.
Collazo says he spent 15 years in prison, including at MCI-Concord. Now out, he works to help inmates. He said the facility is a prison very much showing its age.
"Being able to change the narrative on what prisons and incarceration looks like for the future is what we are super excited for," he said.
"It is a very big development," said Gabriel Ellis-Ferrara, who volunteers inside MCI-Concord every Monday night. "It is not the prettiest building in the world, but as far as the men in there, some of them are my best friends, they are wonderful people."
"I honestly think it was time," said Victoria Neff, who lives across from the prison. "I think there could be a better use of that space for many other people who are struggling to find housing, or something else that could benefit the community."
"The fact that it is underutilized to me, means there is a need on how to reuse that space," she added.
The property covers 62 acres and abuts West Concord Village, the Route 2 rotary, and the West Concord stop on the Fitchburg commuter rail line. He said he expects community engagement before any plans are finalized about future uses, but mentioned several possibilities, including housing, commercial and retail options, as well as open space or recreational space.
"With a plot of land this size we should be looking to address multiple challenges and opportunities," Cataldo told the News Service.
Town Manager Kerry Lafleur issued the following statement:
"The MCI closure presents a tremendous opportunity to explore site re-use. The property, as well as the prison’s wastewater treatment facility, are of specific interest to Concord, and we look forward to working with our partners at the State to better understand its potential."
