LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A state prison in La Grange is planning to close, and Oldham County officials see its end as a potential new beginning.
Last November, Kentucky Department of Corrections announced the expansion of Little Sandy Correctional Complex in Elliott County. The eastern Kentucky prison expansion allows for the Department of Corrections to transition inmates out of reformatories with aging infrastructure, like Kentucky State Reformatory in La Grange.
The prison in Oldham County opened in 1939 and can house more than 1,000 inmates. Oldham County Judge Executive David Voegele believes the state has been phasing out inmates for the past year and a half.
"We're not privy to the exact movement of inmates, but I do know they have been building prison facilities in eastern Kentucky where labor is cheaper," Voegele said.
KSR has dealt with staffing shortages and aging infrastructure according to the state DOC.
Voegele is hopeful the property on which KSR sits will be given to Oldham County. He said the county could use the area for economic development.
"The property over at the prison would make an excellent business park, possibly get one or two large employers in there," Voegele said.
Kentucky State Reformatory in La Grange, Ky.
The county has plans to run a road on the southwest side of the prison property, which would be an extension of KY393. It could serve as an entry and exit to the business park.
"It would make an excellent facility for new employment in this region. It's not just Oldham County, we're dealing with the entire region here," Voegele said.
Voegele said Rep. David Osborne and others have been working with Gov. Andy Beshear's office and the corrections cabinet to discuss facilitating the transfer of property.
The prison expansion is expected to create more than 160 new jobs in Elliott County. Voegele said employees at KSR would be transferred to Luther Luckett Correctional Complex or Roederer Correctional Complex in La Grange or Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women in Pewee Valley.
The county would prefer if the property came after the demolition of the prison.
"It would take quite a bit to move out everything there," Voegele said.
Voegele has had connection to the prison for almost half a century. His father-in-law was the KSR warden for many years. He believes the 12-story administration building is an Oldham County landmark, but the space can be better utilized.
"I'd be sorry to see it go in some respects, but it's progress," Voegele said. "The thing has become dilapidated out there. There's a lot of structural and mechanical issues."
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