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| Shuttered prison could be sold |
| By tbo.com - KEITH MORELLI |
| Published: 06/11/2012 |
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TAMPA, FL -- After more than three decades keeping lawbreakers off the streets, the Hillsborough Correctional Institution — nestled in the pine forests and oak hammocks of Riverview — stands empty. Shuttered two months ago to save money, the center has been pitched as a transitional unit for male prisoners in the last year of their sentences. That proposal now appears dead amid rumors the Florida Department of Corrections plans to sell the facility. The Drug Abuse and Comprehensive Coordinating Office, or DACCO, had hoped to use the former prison to house its inmate re-entry program, also funded by the Department of Corrections. The re-entry program, still in the works, would offer GED classes, substance-abuse treatment and vocational skills training for up to 60 men a year, according to a resolution presented to the county commission last month. DACCO, created through a government-business partnership and now helping more than 25,000 people a year, is planning its own center but it won't be built until next year. Meantime, it looked at the HCI facility and contacted the Department of Corrections. But bureaucracy got in the way, and in the end, the deal fell through, DACCO Chief Executive Officer Mary Lynn Ulrey said last week. "It would have been an interim place to start," Ulrey said, "and, if we could have leased it for long period of time, that would be great. It was bigger than what we needed, but it would have met our needs." That's not to say the re-entry program won't happen. DACCO won a contract from the Department of Corrections eight months ago; it just won't happen until next year. The program requires a staff of about 30 people. Read More. |
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