Springfield, Illinois When actor James Stewart filmed “Call Northside 777,” in which he played a Chicago newspaper reporter who frees a wrongly convicted murderer from the infamous Stateville prison in 1948, the prison had already been standing for nearly 25 years.
Now, after 76 years and hundreds of millions of dollars in neglected renovations, the Illinois prison that housed notorious killers Leopold, Loeb and Richard Speck and the execution site of John Wayne Gacy is closing its doors.
The Illinois Department of Corrections has already begun transferring inmates from a prison in suburban Chicago called Crest Hill, a controversial decision that was backed up by a federal court order last month.
Last spring, Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration announced a $900 million plan to replace Stateville, which opened in 1925, with a state-of-the-art facility on adjacent state property. The campus could also include a new women’s prison. The proposal also includes replacing the aging Logan Correctional Center in central Illinois, which could be relocated to the Stateville campus. Construction could take three to five years.
But that’s all the administration has said. No design plans have been released, and there’s no timetable for demolition, no groundbreaking ceremony, or even a timeline for what will happen to prison staff.
Still, prison officials’ decision to close the facility this month came long before the court ruling became inevitable. In a decade-old lawsuit challenging the health and safety of the Stateville environment, U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood on Aug. 9 ordered most of the prison’s 430 inmates to evacuate by Sept. 30.
“The primary reason for closing the facility while it reconstructs is to address the serious safety and security concerns that have been raised for the people who work and live in Statesville,” Acting Superintendent Latoya Hughes told a legislative review panel in June. “This is not simply a matter of preference; it is a necessary step to ensure that our safety, efficiency, and rehabilitative mission is accomplished.”
Staff and service providers, including agencies that provide a variety of educational and social programs to inmates, hope that Stateville will remain open while a replacement facility is built, so that services are not interrupted or a close, experienced staff is not lost.
According to a long-term capital needs study released in May 2023, the prison is $286 million behind on maintenance. The study estimated $12 million for immediate upgrades, but Hughes said that “significantly underestimates the full scope of the urgent need.” Wood’s court order focused on concrete chips, bird feathers and droppings, and stinky tap water.
The dilapidated F-House, a circular facility with cells around the perimeter and a guard tower in the center, closed in 2016. It was the last of the nation’s circular prison housing units, but it was briefly reopened to increase space between inmates during the COVID-19 pandemic. F-House and other buildings that are no longer in use are in a state of limbo, but they still need maintenance, Hughes said.
It doesn’t make sense to pay for rehabilitation while also preparing to spend a huge amount of money on a new facility, Hughes said, and most of the work would involve moving inmates anyway.
But it’s not right for Sen. Rachel Ventura to say the department has not stepped up to address concerns she and other lawmakers raised at a June hearing. She said in one case, the department promised that after a detainee was transferred to a continuing education program, they would no longer have access. The Joliet Democrat said she repeatedly asked for updates but was told there was no new information.
“If they close (on Sept. 30), well, what are you going to do with it? Are you moving furniture out there? Are you putting together a demo plan? Are you doing an environmental study?” Ventura said. “Those would be the next logical steps, but again, the fact that DOC has not responded to this is very concerning.”
I sent an email to a corrections officer, then followed up with a phone message asking for comment on the Stateville operation, including the timeline for the closure, demolition, and groundbreaking ceremonies, and what steps would be taken after the inmates were evacuated.
A bipartisan, bicameral hearing of the Government Accountability and Forecasting Committee in June brought together members of the American Federation of State, County and City Employees, who were understandably concerned not only about losing their jobs but also about the camaraderie and collaborative work environment that has shaped their communities in Statesville and Logan.
Stateville has 939 employees, including 676 security officers. Hughes noted that the Department of Corrections’ staffing shortage is working in their favor. In June, she said there were 1,000 vacancies within 63 miles (101 kilometers) of Stateville, including facilities that will continue to operate on the Stateville campus. There are 500 vacancies to the south at the larger, older Pontiac Correctional Center and 168 at the Sheridan Correctional Facility to the west. When Stateville reopens, former employees will have first choice to return.
But many employees have a long commute to Statesville. Charles Mathis lives 45 minutes from his home on the South Side of Chicago. If he were to travel to Sheridan or Pontiac, it would take two hours each way, not to mention the staff shortage that would require employees to work double shifts when they arrive.
“Commuting back and forth like that would be incredibly taxing on your mind and body,” Mathis said. “It would take away from precious time with your family and friends. I speak for all my colleagues when I say that it would be nearly impossible to justify.”
