A few months ago, Governor Rod Blagojevich announced he wanted to close a portion of Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet. Local legislators and residents fought the cost-cutting plan, saying the economic loss to the area would be devastating. It seems the opponents may be getting their way – the Illinois Department of Corrections indicated it would instead apply the budget scalpel to the prison in Pontiac, in central Illinois.
The plan now is to move most of the 1,600 inmates there to a prison near the Quad Cities. DOC Spokesman Sergio Molina says the proposal to shutter the 19th century-era Pontiac prison would save the state money. The Mayor of Pontiac, Scott McCoy, joins us on the phone to discuss the effects the prison closure would have on his community.