Pubdate: Tues, 6 July 1999
Source: Wisconsin State Journal (WI)
Contact:  http://www.madison.com/
Author: Richard W. Jaeger, Regional reporter

'SUPERMAX' NEAR COMPLETION

The 509-bed prison is slated to open in October, when it will begin
accepting the state's most dangerous criminals.

BOSCOBEL -- Only a few more strokes of the paint brush and some testing of
major equipment remain before a new prison for Wisconsin's most dangerous
criminals will be open for business.

Construction of the 509-bed supermaximum-security prison at the edge of town
is on schedule and should be completed by the end of the month, said Warden
Gerald Berge as he gave a tour of the sprawling concrete and steel
penitentiary last week.

"We should be ready to take inmates in October as planned," Berge said,
noting that after the final construction work is completed, the remainder of
the prison's security systems will be installed and tested along with the
facility's operating procedures.

It is somewhat fitting that Berge gets the honors of opening the state's
most secure prison. He has a long background in correctional work with the
state as a former administrator of the division of adult institutions and a
former warden at Fox Lake Correctional Institution, an 800-bed
medium-security facility.

The $43 million prison in Boscobel has some of the most modern innovations
in security -- from the lethal, electrified perimeter fence to the single
bed dungeon-like cells that isolate inmates from anyone other than prison
staff.

Berge said the inmates will be isolated from human contact, including family
visitations, which will be conducted over video cameras that are at the
central gatehouse and in the cells.

There is one guardhouse for the entire prison to watch over vehicle and
pedestrian entries through the facility's only gate. Since prisoners are not
allowed outside of their cells except for one hour of exercise a day, there
is no prison yard, Berge said.

The selection of prisoners within the state corrections system who will be
assigned to the 'supermax' is expected to begin in September. Berge said
corrections staff have already begun developing a profile for the type of
prisoners who will be kept in the new prison.

Along with the final construction work, Berge has begun interviews for
staffing the prison, which will be self-contained. Medical services, for
instance, are contracted through a firm that provides such service. Food and
laundry also will be contracted outside with no inmates assigned to any of
those duties. The only activity inmates will have, Berge said, will be
instructional programs conducted via video in their cells.

The prison is expected to bring jobs to the Boscobel area and already is
resulting in residential growth, which includes the warden, who is building
a home just outside of town.

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