Eastern U.P. Prison To Reopen

The Michigan Department of Corrections is planning to reopen a prison in the eastern Upper Peninsula.

The Evening News of Sault Ste. Marie reports the department determined it was less expensive to upgrade security at the Hiawatha Correctional Facility, which closed in 2009, than to make similar changes at the nearby Kinross Correctional Facility, a former barracks that was not designed to house prisoners.

Lloyd Repelje, Assistant Deputy Director for the Kinross Office, told Chippewa County residents that infrastructure and security enhancements for Kinross were conservatively estimated at $10.6 million, while reactivating and upgrading Hiawatha would cost just under $8 million.

Additional savings will come from reduced utility costs and staff reductions although no one will be laid off.