More than 70 residents gathered at a public meeting this week to learn more about the proposed women’s prison some hope to lure to town.
The Tuesday night meeting, held at the Lorenzo Davis Elementary School on the edge of town, had fewer attendees than a hearing held in the same building by the Illinois Department of Corrections last month.
Corrections officials did not attend the second gathering, and Township Supervisor Rose Covington said it was called merely to again detail the town’s plan and give those residents feeling removed from the process a chance to have their say.
Despite that, residents who said they felt intimidated by well-organized prison supporters at the hearing in October said Tuesday’s meeting came closer to explaining the reasons behind a joint Hopkins Park and Pembroke Township application for the proposed 1,800-bed, $80 million women’s penitentiary. The October hearing, many said, was more like a rally.
“This was better, it was better,” said Mark Anthony, 33, who spoke against the prison Tuesday.
Anthony and fellow members of the Pembroke Advocates for Truth, a group calling for increased dialogue between township officials and residents on economic development matters, passed out a list of 30 questions seeking details on the prison’s potential site, likely economic benefits and other particulars.
Although many residents put the questions to Covington, others voiced outright opposition.
“We came here from Chicago and thought we left all this kind of bull behind. We wanted our children to see trees and birds and deer. I don’t want them to see a prison,” said Fayette Moore, 43, a 16-year resident of the township.
“If it’s going to help our young people get jobs, then I would be in favor of the prison,” countered James Gregory, 66, who has lived in Pembroke Township for 25 years. Unemployment levels in the township hover around 30 percent, and many township roads have yet to be paved. “We need all the help we can get,” he said.
State corrections officials said the women’s prison will open in northern Illinois in 2002. A decision from Gov. George Ryan on where to build it is expected before the new year. The other two communities in the running are Freeport and Wenona.
Covington has previously said the prison would lead to infrastructure improvements, retail growth and 900 new jobs.
