Kenneth E. Lawrence: The former Montgomery County prison is a monument to injustice

For 36 years, the former Montgomery County prison has sat vacant and deteriorating in the center of Norristown. There have been many grandiose ideas put forth about how to renovate it — ranging from a luxury hotel to a butterfly sanctuary. But no one has come forward with a feasible plan for the building that doesn’t involve using the county’s taxpayer dollars.

Now the county’s leadership — at my direction as the chair of the Board of Commissioners — has moved forward with plans to finally demolish the old prison, which I firmly believe is a symbol of injustice. We are working with the municipality of Norristown to repurpose the land for the greater public good.

Well-intentioned and earnest citizens have stepped forward to advocate for “saving the prison” without specifying what exactly it would be saved for, and who would pay to do so. While I certainly respect the opinions and perspectives of the great residents of our county, I find referring to a former house of incarceration as a “castle” to be out of touch. Not only that but asking for a “stay of execution” for a building where, according to the Historical Society of Montgomery County, executions actually took place is downright offensive.

As I stated at a recent meeting of the county’s commissioners, we are not prepared to ask taxpayers to spend millions of dollars to preserve a crumbling, environmentally hazardous structure that stands as a monument to a carceral system that disproportionately and unfairly punished those living in poverty, people of color, and members of other marginalized groups. This building should not be the face of Montgomery County or Norristown, our county seat.

I am sure there were historic preservationists who also wanted to conserve the statues of Confederate generals — in Charlottesville, Va., and elsewhere — because of the majesty of those structures. But those statues represented ideals that are not in keeping with the equality for all that America stands for. Confederate generals were traitors to our nation. So, driven in large part by the murder of George Floyd in 2020, the push to do away with Confederate statues has resulted in the removal of hundreds of them in recent years, regardless of their perceived “historical significance.”

Despite the assertion by those hoping to preserve the building that noncounty funds are available, we know, as do they, that is not true. If any entity or business thought it could viably repurpose the building, don’t you think they might have stepped forward in the 36 years since the prison closed? The prison’s existence is not a secret.

Anyone who drives down East Airy Street in Norristown can appreciate the architecture of the facade. In fact, the building was designed by the same architect, Napoleon LeBrun, who is also responsible for designing our historic Montgomery County Courthouse.

I, and all of us in county leadership, am sensitive to the fact that the prison building dates to 1854 and represents a distinctive example of that era’s Gothic architectural style. But there are major differences between the prison and the courthouse, and the justification for preserving one and not the other.

That is why we are investing over $90 million in preserving and restoring the courthouse and bringing its systems up to 21st-century standards. At least $20 million of that figure specifically focuses on the preservation of historic elements.

Since its inception, our broader Montgomery County Justice Center project — with construction slated for completion in 2026 — has included, as a fundamental requirement, historic preservation of the courthouse and the monuments installed in Hancock Square Park, including the Montgomery County Civil War Memorial. The plans for that project were developed only after county leadership and the architects met with local preservationists.

But here, we are talking about a prison — not our courthouse, not the Academy of Music, and not the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul. Each of these buildings was designed by LeBrun, but unlike the crumbling prison, they are contributing to the fabric of our society in meaningful and positive ways.

Aside from the moral argument, there is a thoroughly studied and pragmatic reason for demolishing the prison: The old jail is quite literally falling apart. The accelerating deterioration of the building was apparent with the partial collapse of the roof in 2019. That led us to engage a local engineering firm that inspected both the prison’s interior and exterior, which are plagued with asbestos, lead paint, and other hazards. The engineers’ report helped us determine that the building had no future.

If the county were to propose building a prison in the center of Norristown today, residents would rightfully reject such an idea. Norristown’s past was better and bigger than a prison in the center of town, and Norristown’s future is brighter than restoring an old prison in the center of town.

Our focus should be on keeping people out of our current jail, rather than preserving the old one.

Our focus should be on keeping people out of our current jail, rather than preserving the old one.

I am excited at the prospect of working with Norristown to repurpose the prison property and the neighboring Airy Street parking lot to further spur the borough’s revitalization. There is a better and higher purpose to the land that will change and save lives.

Once the building is demolished, the large footprint will be turned into a well-maintained green space. The Norristown community will then play a significant role in determining the exact kind of development options that would benefit the entire borough.

Norristown is on the rise, and we intend to continue to support those efforts. Our record shows that we respect and endorse historic preservation.

Tearing down this structure will not change the inequities in our criminal justice system, but we also refuse to invest in celebrating the sad legacy that the building represents.

Kenneth E. Lawrence is chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners.