Moving the prison will help Draper, at the expense of the rest of
Salt Lake County and Utah. Lets move it to where we forget it? No, that
really is a bad idea. Keep it to where it is close to colleges,
hospitals, the courts, and lots of visitors and volunteers. We don't
actually want the prisoners to stay prisoners.
There
is enough room to add 576 beds and you wouldn't notice which would allow
the few non-pod type facilities to be replaced. We also have this
really cool system in Gunnison where the prisoners work with wild
horses. For those prisoners that the Draper facility doesn't work, we
have that option.
With the Mountain View (Corridor), the Draper Prison isn't the bottle neck it was. There are many acres of developable land in that general area that could actually be worth less if more land is added. Will it increase population in that area for schools, likely. Will the money end up going where the schools will be needed, not likely.
Where: In Salt Lake County? Why move it. Outside of Salt Lake County, further from resources and courts.
Don't move the prison.
Disclaimers:
I am an architect. Moving the prison would likely help my profession. I have drawn thousands of jail and prison cells many years ago, including working on the Gunnison Prison, Oxbow Jail, and others out of state.
I also invested 2 years as a volunteer for a church service mission at the Draper Prison.
Update, what passed the Legislature was a decision to move the prison, sometime, somewhere weighing many of the concerns I have listed.
