“Too disgusting to live.” That’s how one Blair County Resident, who’s Grandson is incarcerated, described the conditions at the Blair County Prison. We talked with Officials about what’s next for the more than 150-year-old building.
Cones and caution tape could be seen at the Blair County Prison. They are due to safety concerns that were found when trying to make upgrades to the infrastructure. They say renovating the building is a priority of theirs, to help both the Employees and Inmates.
The Blair County Prison was built 155 years ago, and is currently facing some major structural issues. David Kessling, Chairman of the Blair County Prison Board saying: “As a precaution, we put out caution tape around the walkway because we’re dealing with a prison, that wall is 155… 156 years old. We’re not sure what’s going to happen with the wall, so we’re just trying to take precautionary measures to ensure that everyone’s safe and away from the area.”
Kessling says the former Board of Commissioners hired a company to do a ‘feasibility study’ to see what changes need to be made. Kessling adding: “The infrastructure, due to the age of the facility, is becoming problematic, it was identified by the last Board as an issue, it’s still an issue with this Board, and we’re still going through the process of the feasibility study, find out what our options are, and then we’ll be making a decision on what we need to do.”
On Tuesday, we told you about the staffing issues the Prison is already facing along with overcrowding. One Blair County Resident says he thinks it’s time for some upgrades, and talks about what his Grandson, a current inmate, has told him about his experience inside. Randy Black, a Blair County Resident saying: “He was sleeping on the floor, they got mice running around there, then he got moved to another place where a guy was going to the bathroom in the cell and leaving it lay and they weren’t even cleaning it up for a day or so, he said it was almost disgusting, it was so bad it wasn’t even worth living.”
Kessling says that there should be more information given on the future of the prison at next week’s Prison Board meeting.
