Manager: Luzerne County not buying vacant state prison in Newport Township

Luzerne County is not poised to assume ownership of the vacant State Correctional Institution at Retreat in Newport Township and its access bridge as stated by a candidate in the county council race, county Manager Romilda Crocamo said Thursday.

Crocamo did not identify the candidate but addressed the matter in a statement about candidate misstatements.

The state closed SCI Retreat in June 2021.

“Years ago, county officials toured the Retreat facility, and it was determined then — and remains the determination — that the Retreat facility is not a viable option for the county,” Crocamo’s statement said. “I will say unequivocally, Luzerne County is not buying the Retreat facility.”

Accessible by a steel bridge off Route 11, the 264-acre SCI Retreat property also falls in Union and Hunlock townships, state information says. There are 23 structures totaling 303,900 square feet, including a maintenance garage, boiler plant, superintendent’s residence, farmhouse, paint and carpentry shops, service building, cannery, education center, administrative buildings, warehouse, guard shacks, greenhouse, chapel and multiple cell blocks for inmates, it said.

The property had been suggested at times as a potential new location for a county prison complex, but the idea never took hold.

In a March report about the state’s preparations to market and sell the property, Crocamo had said a 2021 tour concluded the facility was not a feasible option for such a property.

County officials also toured the complex in 2022 amid indications the state may transfer the property to the county for $1. No takeover plan was advanced after the tour.

According to past reports, the Central Poor District of Luzerne County established an almshouse for the indigent there in 1878. A hospital for those with mental health conditions was added in 1900. The property was known as the Retreat Hospital for the Insane and Almshouse for 30 years and renamed the Retreat Mental Hospital in 1930. The county operated that facility until 1943, when it was transferred to state control.

The hospital formally closed in 1981, and it opened as a state prison in January 1988.

Due to the race for five county council seats, Crocamo said in her Thursday statement that “the air is thick with promises, opinions and, unfortunately, misstatements.”

“Candidates vying for public office often find themselves in a delicate balance between presenting their vision and navigating the complexities of the truth. Whether these misstatements stem from genuine misunderstanding or are strategically crafted for political gain, they merit our attention and scrutiny,” Crocamo said.