
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, April 9, 1995                   TAG: 9504100065
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CLINTWOOD                                 LENGTH: Medium

BACKERS OF PRISON IN SOUTHWEST VA. CELEBRATE FUNDING

Backers of a maximum-security prison project in Southwest Virginia are jubilant over the General Assembly's decision to restore funding for the $72 million facility.

Legislators originally dropped the Red Onion project from their prison bond package, but Gov. George Allen asked them to restore the money. Allen also presented an engineering report that showed the site on the border of Dickenson and Wise counties was ready for construction.

Allen and local officials said the project would bring more than 300 jobs to the high-unemployment area.

``I think it's super great,'' Paul Buchanan, chairman of the Dickenson County Board of Supervisors, said after Thursday's vote at the assembly's veto session. ``It illustrates what the citizens in the region can do when they work together on a project.''

``The citizens of Wise and Dickenson counties worked long and hard on this project,'' Buchanan said. ``I believe we will reap the dividends.''

Other localities in the state have balked at prison-building proposals, but officials from Wise and Dickenson embraced the project.

After the Democrat-controlled legislature dropped the project during the regular session, the Republican governor chided Democrats for abandoning something local residents wholeheartedly endorsed. Allen also said the facility would help the state ease crowded prisons.

Democrats countered that the site had problems with soil compaction and authorized only $12 million for site work. They reversed themselves this week after the site problems apparently were resolved.

Although no timetable has been set officially, the prison could be completed by 1997 and the first prisoners could arrive a year later, officials said. Pittston Coal Co. is donating nearly 400 acres for the construction.

Wise County Administrator Scott Davis said the full funding represents the end of four years of hard work by the two counties.

``The county is delighted,'' Davis said. ``We had an excellent delegation to push this through.''

Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1995

by CNB