Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Prescott Loses Prison To Malvern

Close doesn't count and Prescott came extremely close to getting a new prison facility in 1999.

The Arkansas Department of Corrections invited Prescott to submit a proposal on a 780- bed minimum security prison.

The ADC required at least 408 acres of land for the facility. In return, some 225 jobs would be created as soon as the prison's doors opened, and it would have an annual operating cost of about $11 million, with the average pay being $11 an hour.

The City of Prescott and the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office wasted no time in getting a proposal together for the project and submitting it to the ADC.

Walt Denton, former executive director of the EDO, said this was a "fast track" project with the ADC to make a determination by the end of summer and begin construction in early 2000.

Prescott put its package together, including 408 acres of land near Interstate 30 off Washington Road. The city made the short list of three communities for the prison.

The ADC prison committee visited Prescott Thursday, July 29, to get the area's pitch on why the prison should be located in Nevada County.

Prescott's City Council passed a resolution favoring the prison being located in Nevada County near the city.

The resolution, according to Prescott Mayor Howard Taylor, showed the ADC the city's desire to have the prison as well as the public's support.

An ADC site selection committee made the visit to Prescott, meeting first at the community room of the Christus St. Michael Health Center.

There area leaders, as the project became a regional goal as well as a local one, pitched the committee on why the prison should be located in Prescott.

Denton pointed out the surrounding area helped create an available labor force of 65,000 ready to go to work.

He told how the site was near I-30 and medical facilities could be reached in less than 30 minutes.

Educational facilities, he added, were a 30 minute drive away as well, and include two universities, Henderson State and Ouachita Baptist, along with the junior college at Hope.

However, the effort was in vain as Prescott finished second in the running, with the prison going to Malvern.

The ADC committee said had the soil conditions been more favorable Prescott would have gotten the nod and prison.

Dina Tyler, public information officer with the ADC, said the major reason why Malvern was picked over Prescott was the difference in construction cost.

The ADC, she said, had set aside a specific amount for construction, and it would have cost more to build at Prescott. Otherwise, the committee wanted to locate in Nevada County.

Denton said even though the area lost out on the prison some good did come of the effort made.

The way the leaders of the region pulled together to try and get the facility broke new ground, he said, and gives all involved something new to build on.

"We can do more as a region now," he said, "and pursue other projects. Even though we fell short on this, if we work together, we can get more accomplished."

Tyler said this isn't the last prison the ADC will ever build and Prescott should be ready to toss its hat in for the next one.

"This doesn't change the fact we like Prescott," she said. "It's a wonderful community. I like to think we have a good relationship and when we site the next one I hope they're interested."