Northern officially closed, sooner than planned

Joe Chaisson, Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
·2 min read

Jun. 12—SOMERS — Northern Correctional Institution has officially closed, officials from the governor's office reported Friday.

The closing, effective Friday, is roughly three weeks ahead of the scheduled closure, which was set for July 1.

Andrius Banevicius, Correction Department spokesman, said the early closing was a result of being ahead of schedule.

"The early closing wasn't so much a sudden change," Banevicius said. "We were doing a methodical method and completed the task of closing ahead of schedule."

Gov. Ned Lamont earlier this year announced plans to close the facility due to a significant drop in the state's incarcerated population, which has decreased by roughly 3,400 people over the last 15 months.

Officials said the state's total number of incarcerated individuals now stands at approximately 9,000.

The institution was opened in 1995 and had an all-time high of 510 incarcerated individuals in January 2003.

Banevicius said that the entire prison population has been transferred to other maximum-security facilities throughout the state.

The facilities' closure will save the state approximately $11.75 million in annual operating costs, state officials say.

Banevicius said the building, located on Bilton Road, will be maintained to ensure it does not fall into disrepair. There are no plans at present to reuse the building, he said.

"New prison admissions in Connecticut have declined significantly over the last decade and the incarcerated population is currently at a 32-year low," Lamont wrote in a prepared statement released Friday. "This is even as violent, high risk inmates are serving more of their original sentences than ever before.

"Spending millions of dollars annually to operate facilities for a population that continues to get smaller and smaller is not a good use of resources, especially as we work to reduce the cost structure of state government," Lamont continued, adding that he applauded the ongoing work of all state correctional professionals who keep facilities safe and secure.

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