Officials visit prison

From staff reports
Published: November 19, 2008

More than 40 citizens and officials from Eden and Rockingham County traveled to Taylorsville on Wednesday to tour Alexander Correctional Institution – a closed custody state facility housing 1,000 inmates. The trip was part of a city-county partnership seeking to attract one of three medium or minimum security correctional facilities planned for the state within the next 10 years.
After several weeks of presentations in Eden concerning the positive impact such a facility could have on a local economy, the trip was an opportunity to hear testimony from correctional officials, local economic development staff and elected officials from Taylorsville and Alexander County. Local officials were able to hear first-hand how Taylorsville obtained the prison and the kind of impact it has had on the local economy.
Eden and Rockingham County officials are primarily focused on the number of jobs such a facility could bring to the area. The Taylorsville facility employs nearly 500 people including correctional officers, nurses and medical personnel, mental health providers, dental personnel, maintenance and administrative staff.
Eden and Rockingham County seek to attract a 1,008-bed medium custody facility to a 150-acre site on the Whitt Farm property off Harrington Highway. The facility would employ approximately 340 people, of which about 70 percent would be correctional officers, and would be slated for opening in 2015 or 2016.