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Camp Gabriels is
officially closed.
The state Department
of Correctional Services shut down the facility, along with two
others in the state, on Wednesday, July 1, although its been weeks
since Camp Gabriels housed any inmates.
And most of those who
worked at the camp have transferred to other positions in the state
prison system.
Erik Kriss is a
spokesman for the Corrections Department. “Each of the facilities
that was to close on July 1, we moved the inmates out at the end of
May so the remaining staff could focus on the things that need to be
done to close up shop,” he said. “That’s what they’ve been doing.
And Camp Gabriels is closed.”
The other prisons
that officially closed Wednesday were Camp McGregor in Saratoga
County and Camp Pharsalia in Chenango County.
The majority of
employees of Camp Gabriels, 91 to be exact, have now transferred or
been re-assigned to other correctional facilities. Eight workers
retired prior to the closure of the camp. One person resigned.
Three people returned to positions they had at other prisons before
being promoted. And four Gabriels workers were laid off.
Kriss said he
believed the layoffs were caused by employees not accepting their
transfer assignments. But he said the state is still monitoring
vacancies in the prison system or trying to find them positions in
other state agencies. “We hope to not have to lay anybody off,”
Kriss said.
He repeated the
state’s justification for closing Camp Gabriels – improving
efficiency in the prison system and saving money.
“In the final
analysis this is done not only to manage the prison system in a more
intelligent way because of a drop in the inmate population. But
it’s also to save taxpayers money. Its $5.5 million for Gabriels in
the current fiscal year. And it’s going to be $6.5 million in
2010-2011. Millions of dollars of savings to taxpayers is important
especially these days with the difficulty the state budget’s in and
the economy is in.”
DOCS Commissioner
Brian Fischer has until October to complete a report on possible
re-uses for Camp Gabriels. Kriss said they’ve received several
ideas and suggestions. “We’re encouraged by that,” he said,
declining to provide any details on the proposals.
“What we want to do
is use the maximum amount of time we have to hear ideas, evaluate
them, talk to other state agencies who are going to be involved in
the process of determining what possible use a state facility like
that could be converted to. Then we’ll come out with a report. It
won’t just be the Department of Correctional Services deciding what
to do with Camp Gabriels, but other agencies of state government as
well.”
St. Joseph’s
Rehabilitation Center in Saranac Lake has proposed converting Camp
Gabriels into a substance abuse treatment facility for inmates in
the state prison system.
-Chris Knight, 7-2-09
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