Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Prison Board Makes Visit (cont)

esn't have a hospital, a hospital can be reached faster than from most places in Little Rock and other prisons in Arkansas.

He said the Prescott community supports the prison project and it should go where it will be appreciated.

Ross said there has been no opposition to the prison project in Prescott and Nevada County, or in SWAR for the matter. "We're 100 percent behind it," he continued. "We want you in SWAR and Prescott."

From the presentation, the committee went to the proposed site, getting a feel for the location and lay of the land. The committee was shown different possible access sites from I-30 as well as highways nearby.

Dina Tyler, ADC spokesman, said the site looked much like Southeast Arkansas as it was planted in soybeans at the time.

This site, she said, is ready for row crops. Tyler compared Prescott's site favorably to others the committee had visited.

She said the unit would be mostly self-sufficient in raising its own foods. Other units raise prime beef, selling the cattle to the public and purchasing a lower grade for the inmates.

Some units raise vegetables, while others grow layer hens.

One member of the committee said he would like to see the new prison locate in Southwest Arkansas as the southeast part of the state is saturated with them.

The only other location in SWAR would be Malvern. Tyler said it's site had rolling hills and could be used to raise cattle.

The committee left Prescott, heading to Camden, where there was opposition to the project.

It's final stop was in the Pine Bluff and McGhee/Dermott areas. The committee's first visit was to Parkin where it was shown six different locations a prison could be built.

Russellville dropped out of the race for the prison voluntarily last month.

The prison would house 250 inmates to begin with, but would grow to house up to 475 prisoners.

Initially, it would cost $23 million to build and would create 225 jobs in the area.