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| Graterford Inmates Help Restore America's First Penitentiary |
| By PRNewswire/Eastern State Penitentiary |
| Published: 06/10/2002 |
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Inmates from Pennsylvania's Graterford Prison's Community Works Program traveled to Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia recently to begin preliminary work for the restoration of the Industrial Building. Built inside the walls of Eastern State in 1907, the Industrial Building is a two story, stone structure that housed the prison's laundry and commissary. The second floor, with its huge chamfered beams and exposed truss system, was used for a variety of prison activities, including religious services, movies, concerts and as a gymnasium. On Tuesday, May 28, ten inmates from the Graterford Community Works Program under the supervision of a maintenance trades instructor went to Eastern State to begin preparing the site for the restoration of the 95-year-old building. The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections introduced the Community Works Program in 1995. The program uses inmate labor to perform jobs that would not otherwise attract workers in the private sector and would cost a non-profit organization, township or municipality a substantial amount of money to complete. Since 1995, Community Works Program inmate crews have built and cleared trails through public parklands, painted and refurbished municipal buildings and have cleared Pennsylvania's roadways of litter. Graterford's inmates have renovated buildings at The Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown. |
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