No rush for Graterford site

When Pennsylvania disclosed a month ago that Graterford Prison might be moved from Skippack Township and its 1,780 prime acres turned over to development, neighbors braced for an onslaught of builders bearing blueprints for hundreds of homes.

It turned out to be a trickle.

Three developers responded by the state's 3 p.m. deadline yesterday for "expressions of interest" in obtaining rights to the Graterford site in central Montgomery County. As part of that deal, the chosen firm would build two, and possibly three, new prisons in Pennsylvania within 50 miles of the 78-year-old correctional facility.

The state Department of General Services, which oversees all real estate matters, would not release the developers' identities or the details of their proposals pending review by legal counsel.

Ed Myslewicz, the department spokesman, estimated that the process would take two weeks.

All three Graterford proposals arrived in Harrisburg yesterday. Asked if more responses had been expected, Myslewicz said, "Since this is the first time we've ever done it . . . we have nothing to base it on."

In development-weary Skippack, where nearly 1,200 homes have been built in the last six years and local residents complain angrily about traffic congestion, the chairman of the township supervisors, Mark Marino, said he "wouldn't care if there were 100" responses to the state's invitation.

"It's not going to make a difference toward the township's stance," Marino said. ". . . This is not going to be an easy process by any means for someone to come here and develop the prison grounds. We have no intention of changing the zoning or allowing that property to be developed without a fight."

The current zoning allows only for correctional facilities or open space.

State officials have said any relocation of Graterford would require legislative approval and would likely not happen for at least six years. They said they wanted to gauge the interest of developers who, in exchange for Graterford's mostly untouched acreage, would build two 2,000-bed prisons - one maximum security, one medium security - and maybe a third 2,000-bed medium-security facility.

Of the 16 states that responded to an Inquirer e-mail, none reported even considering such a land-for-prisons exchange.

"A novel approach" is how Bob Anez, a spokesman for the Montana Department of Corrections, described it.

Pennsylvania officials say economics prompted them to consider turning over construction of the prisons - not the operation - to a private firm.

"We are charged by Gov. Rendell with squeezing every nickel out of taxpayers' money and this follows suit," Myslewicz said.

In Colorado, for instance, 5,000 of the 23,000 inmates are in prisons built, and run, by private contractors, said Alison Morgan, chief of private prison monitoring for the state's corrections department.

Private companies are "not as constrained by state procurement and still build a quality facility, yet build it cheaper than a state can build it," Morgan said.

Pennsylvania corrections officials have said the average cost of a new prison is $130 million. Like many prisons across the country, Graterford is struggling with overcrowding. The population as of yesterday was 3,014; capacity is 2,744.

The state has not ruled out renovating Graterford. That could cost as much as $80 million, said State Sen. John Rafferty, a Republican who represents parts of Berks, Chester and Montgomery Counties, including Graterford.

Another option is demolishing Graterford and building replacement facilities on its current site, which comprises about 20 percent of Skippack's nearly 14 square miles.