Incoming Luzerne County Council members accept invitation to tour former state prison

All four incoming Luzerne County Council members — Chris Belles, Steve Coslett, Dawn Simmons, and Denise Williams — accepted an invitation to tour the vacant State Correctional Institution at Retreat complex in Newport Township last week.

The state closed the medium security prison in June 2021, and the property has been periodically suggested as a potential new location for a county prison. A steel bridge off Route 11 provides access to the site.

Pennsylvania Department of General representatives issued the invitation, saying the property has been declared surplus and is being prepared for sale.

Some of the remaining County Council members participated in similar past tours of the property.

Belles said there are some structures that would have to be torn down, but others are in “relatively good shape” and could be renovated for less than it would cost to “start from scratch” with new construction.

“It is an option that is on the table. Nothing is a done deal, and council would have to deliberate and look at various other options, obviously,” Belles said. “This could be a very cost-effective choice to protect the taxpayers’ money.”

Coslett, a retired county prison corrections officer, said he had toured the SCI at Retreat complex several years ago with county officials as a prison worker.

He believes the cell blocks are still usable but would have to be upgraded. The site is an option, but he stressed all possibilities must be considered along with finances.

“This is literally the embryo stage of starting a discussion. It is going to take years to come to our solution for the issue of a new prison,” he said.

County officials have sporadically discussed the possibility of a new county prison for more than two decades because the existing aging, multistory facility on Water Street in Wilkes-Barre requires significant maintenance and has an inefficient layout.

The prison capacity was set at 250 inmates when it was remodeled around 1986, but it has largely run at double capacity since the 1990s through the use of bunk beds and conversion of day rooms into housing units, officials said.

Coslett said a new prison eventually will be unavoidable. He wants to start planning now so the county is fully prepared when a final decision must be made, likely years from now.

“We plan on taking our feet out of the mud and starting to lay the groundwork of what the future is going to hold,” Coslett said.

Simmons, a Realtor, said the property is a “good space” that can be repurposed for something else, but she is not convinced it would be suitable for a county prison. Aside from the unknown costs and funding sources, she cannot get past the site’s sole reliance on a bridge for access.

“The concern for me is really accessibility. In my mind, a lot of things can happen with one road in and one road out. If there is an unsafe condition, such as a riot, and that bridge is impassable, we’d have everyone trapped there, both the staff and inmates,” Simmons said. “That is my main problem.”

Simmons agreed with the others that discussions about future prison plans should begin now, as she wants to be “proactive, not reactive.”

Williams said she toured the complex with an open mind and also would have reservations about the bridge maintenance costs and the condition of existing infrastructure.

She proposes an outside assessment of all possible solutions, including expansion of the existing prison.

“I’d want to hear from experts to really get an analysis of options for the county taxpayers because that is going to be a huge task,” Williams said. “I’d encourage getting started on that and being prepared, so when the time comes, we will know how the county is going to move forward.”

Williams said she also wants to review past studies on the topic.

In the mid-2000s, the county retained architect L. Robert Kimball & Associates to study options and design a 1,134-bed prison with a building footprint resembling a wheel, featuring a hub at the center and various wings extending outward like spokes. Offers were also received from landowners willing to sell at least 25 acres for a new prison, but the project remained on the back burner.

Cost has been the main hurdle. The county’s home rule government structure started in 2012 with $465 million in inherited debt that is slated to be paid off in 2030.

Administration input

County Manager Romilda Crocamo said she is prepared to work with County Council on any next steps it advocates.

“There is nothing easy about this decision. The possibility of constructing a new prison is undeniably complex and requires careful consideration of numerous factors,” Crocamo said, citing location, design, safety, judicial input, and financial viability among the examples.

County Correctional Services Division Head James Wilbur attended last week’s tour and also a past one, and said extensive due diligence would be necessary to consider the SCI at Retreat property.

If County Council wants to further explore SCI at Retreat, Wilbur said he would request and review infrastructure issues that had been identified by the state leading up to the prison’s closure.

For any option, county officials must examine the effects on inmate transport and court proceedings and all costs, Wilbur said.

“There are a whole lot of factors that have to be weighed out,” Wilbur said. “This is a big-ticket item, and there will be pros and cons with each option.”

Site marketing

A state Department of General Services online posting says SCI at Retreat will be “available soon,” describing the site as a “large campus-style property” on approximately 174 acres that can be used for commercial or industrial development.

The property will be competitively bid at a date to be determined, the posting said.

There are 30 structures, 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, the state has said.

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 was 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.

Another state-owned property in the county — the White Haven Center in Foster Township — also has been posted as an “available soon” property. It was similarly described as a large campus-style property with 23 buildings on nearly 183 acres for potential commercial or industrial development.

A former residential care facility for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities, the White Haven Center has been vacant since 2023.

The state must continue to maintain surplus properties to prevent further deterioration until ownership is transferred. State officials said in April that the maintenance of White Haven Center costs approximately $4 million annually. There was no immediate response to a request seeking the annual maintenance costs for SCI at Retreat.