Renovations to improve security and add space

This is the prison's first major upgrade since opening in 1978.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA STAFF
MERCER, Pa. -- After the 1989 Camp Hill prison riots, modular units were set up at the State Regional Correctional Facility in Mercer to handle inmates transferred from that facility.
Sixteen years later, those units have outlived their usefulness, and prison officials are building permanent housing as well as tightening up security with a $20 million-plus construction project that got under way two months ago. It is being paid for with a mix of federal and state money.
Last week, one of the modular units that was most recently used for staff training and a locker room was the first structure to be demolished. A maze of dirt and construction equipment sits outside the entrance to the 26-year-old facility.
"This is going to enhance the overall security of the institution and provide more security," said Fred Ruffo, corrections superintendent's assistant.
It will also help the facility, which has not seen any major improvements since it opened in 1978, meet Pennsylvania Department of Corrections standards, he said.
Planned changes
Among the changes will be a new administrative building sitting in front of the prison compound that will include offices as well as a new control center.
"It will be the nerve center of the institution," Ruffo said, explaining it will house video feeds from the prison. "Our administrative building will be our first line of defense."
Other work includes enlarging the existing visiting room and medical facility and building a new sally port area -- an area where trucks can bring supplies and incoming inmates can be processed.
A new two-story building that will house up to 252 inmates also will be constructed, Ruffo said. It will replace three of the modular units brought to Mercer in the late 1980s. It will be one of 12 buildings on the compound, he said.
Ruffo said there are no plans to bring additional or more violent offenders into the facility. It now houses men classified as Level 1 and Level 2 inmates -- considered nonaggressive or the least-threatening inmates. Ruffo noted that an inmate's average stay in the facility is 2.8 months, and most are on their way to being released.
The facility now houses 1,035 inmates.
Ruffo added the prison doesn't expect to hire more employees once the construction is completed.
Construction project
Security upgrades include installing a second 14-foot high fence along the perimeter with video cameras and dogs.
The facility also is undergoing electrical upgrades that will be completed by November.
There are nine diesel-powered generators inside the prison. Ruffo said those are being replaced with two larger diesel-powered generators outside the prison perimeter.
The overall construction project is expected to be completed in the fall of 2006, Ruffo said.
Susan McNaughton, spokeswoman for the state department of corrections, said Mercer's upgrades are among several ongoing right now.
"We have 27 state prisons in Pennsylvania. We are constantly trying to improve and enhance what we do, which is public safety," she said.
cioffi@vindy.com