The Honorable Charles H. Smelser
Room 130, Senate Office Building
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
Dear Senator Smelser:
Thank you very much for giving me some of your time Monday to discuss the State's plans with regard to the external superstructure of the South Wing of the Penitentiary in Baltimore City. (Had the topic not been raised in the Sunday edition of the Sunpaper, I might never have known that the destruction or salvaging of the wing was an issue in this year's session and budget.) I am very glad I called you, I am very glad that you supported preservation of the structure, and it was a great favor to me that you took the time to explain what was happening.
I would like to reiterate for the record my views on what should be done with the building (and, at your suggestion, I shall forward a copy of this letter to Senator Lapides since the issue shall have impact on the total context of Baltimore City as well as of "corrections" in general):
I know that we discussed that the Subcommittee had examined a similar "medieval" prison in Kansas which had been successfully (and cost efficiently) reconfigurated as a maximum security prison; but on the other hand, I am aware of an old tobacco warehouse in Durham, North Carolina that has been successfully (and profitably) converted to office, meeting and retail space. I am sure the American Institute of Architects could point to many, many other fine examples of preservation balanced with present need.
I therefore think it is important to take into consideration and recognize the following realities which face us:
(1) The vast majority of prisoners released and on parole either originated in Baltimore City or return here after departure from prisons in Jessup, Hagerstown, Somerset County and (shortly) Western Maryland.
(2) The Division of Correction is extremely cramped, limited and inadequate for the housing and programming for those prisoners most likely to be "freed" soon (i.e., minimum security, pre-release, work release).
(3) Baltimore City is one of the few areas in the State able to provide professional staff with the training and experience necessary to cope with inmates near the end of their incarceration (compare, for example, Hagerstown, which is having tremendous difficulty recruiting "classification counselors' [in-house social workers]).
(4) Much of the "complex" immediately surrounding South Wing is already devoted to minimum or Pre-Release housing and programming (Greenmount Pre-Release Center, Baltimore City Correctional Center, certain drug maintenance space, etc.).
(5) The property cannot be used for anything except corrections - it is inside a square block bounded by the Penitentiary main tower and west wing. It faces the back of the Greenmount Pre-Release Center; to its south is the multi-story Diagnostic Center; to the west, the "yard" area of the main Penitentiary, including Dining Center and School and Library Facility. What remains of the perimeter (also used for truck and bus storage) is not usually enclosed by high, barbed-wire fencing, but very easily has and can be to restrict access to authorized individuals.
(6) The Division has acres and acres all over the rest of State which it could use for another
maximum security prison (compare the Diagnostic Center with Roxbury in Hagerstown) if it
cared
to take advantage of them.
I suggest certain alternative uses for the interior of the structure;
(1) The Division of Correction does not exist in isolation and presently is lacking coordination with such agencies such as the Division of Parole and Probation, Social Services, drug abuse treatment centers, etc., etc. Space for these functions in the "neighborhood" is poor or non- existent. The South Wing structure could provide important space without annexation of more land area around the complex.
(2) At this point, the kitchen of the Penitentiary is now barely able to keep up with the feeding needs of all the other DOC facilities in those two blocks. An expanded kitchen center is badly needed to cope with all of the DOC prisons already in existence between Madison and Eager, Fallsway and Greenmount, taken together.
(3) Work release inmates need to be housed: 1) where there is work; and 2) where there is public transportation. (With no alternatives, the inmates are being released directly - with little or no preparation.) Pre-release inmates have similar needs and are at a stage where they really ought to be "prepared" for what release will mean to them.
(4) Office space in a reconstructed South Wing building could be devoted for academic research, auxiliary purposes for Headquarters personnel, social workers (i.e., "classification counselors"), classrooms, and other needs.
In conclusion, the architects and planners for the use of the South Wing building should not come from the narrow discipline of "corrections", but from a multi- disciplinary body with the comprehension that whatever is done with the space, with the building, and with the (LARGE) amount of money for capital improvements, will have to be "lived with" for perhaps as many years as the present Penitentiary (groundbreaking, 1811).
Here, I add some observations: architects and designers for the Johns Hopkins Hospital complex also appear to have already solved or learned from trying to solve the problems inherent in building on very little acreage, in an inner city setting, responsive to the needs of a variety of users, and using existing buildings.
I realize that you, Senator Smelser, may not be familiar with the Johns Hopkins complex,
but
perhaps Senator Lapides or others may have been exposed to it. By way of example: The
various
floors of the Carnegie building best exemplify assorted treatment and waiting ("receiving") areas.
Bed
or sleep areas ("pre-release", "work release") can be seen up and down the Nelson building levels
and
also bridging, for example, Osler and Harvey. Ample small offices (about the same size as some
of
the newer cells in DOC) for lower-status personnel were built into the center of the new Meyer
building (but without windows). "Executive"-type offices exist in the Harvey building, facing
an inner
open area between buildings. The Oncology building relates to the complex as Diagnostic relates
to the DOC complex. The very well-known Administration building has the same prominence
to that
complex as the Main Tower of the present Penitentiary has to the DOC complex. At the ground
area,
the complex is criss-crossed with color coded corridors; the plans for other levels vary
depending
on need and preference. (Trash, laundry and food services are conducted in a well-developed
series
of underground tunnels at the basement and sub-basement levels.)
Thank you, Senator Smelser, for your attention to this letter. I'm sorry I may have kept you or overburdened you. I hope I have made my point. Thank you for your interest in this letter, and thank you for standing up to include language in the budget during what I know were hectic and pressure-filled moments.
If you have any questions or would like to get in touch with me, please feel free to do so. (Also, I would appreciate your letting me know anytime this issue may come up in the future.)
cc:Senator Julian Lapides
Delegate Timothy J. Maloney
Division of Correction