ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, April 9, 1997               TAG: 9704090043
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-1  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK THE ROANOKE TIMES

PARK SPRUCE-UP COURTESY OF THOSE WITH SOME TIME ON THEIR HANDS A BREATH OF FRESH AIR FOR ROANOKE - AND FOR INMATES

The prisoners, who work closely supervised by a sheriff's deputy, were chosen for their nonviolent records.

When Roanoke Sheriff Alvin Hudson learned about the dirty conditions at some city parks, he realized he had a solution: people with lots of time on their hands willing to work for free.

So he put a crew of three city jail inmates to work.

In the past two weeks, the inmates have cleaned up five parks with the kind of energy that comes with getting out in nice weather after being cooped up behind bars.

"They're doing about twice as much as what you would expect with inmates," Hudson said.

Hudson said he decided to put the inmates to work after reading stories and letters to the editor in The Roanoke Times about deteriorating conditions in the city's 67 parks. "I didn't realize at the time that the parks had gotten in such bad shape," he said.

Under the watchful eye of a sheriff's deputy, the inmates have been using a high-pressure washer to clean park restrooms and scrub down the plumbing fixtures. They also are painting the buildings and making other repairs.

Once the inmates do the heavy work, groups of people ordered to perform community service in lieu of jail time move in to pick up the trash.

Using inmate labor is nothing new in Roanoke. In the past, minimum-security inmates have been used to wash cars at the city garage, make repairs at the Coyner Springs Juvenile Detention Home, repaint the Roanoke Civic Center auditorium after a fire and help city workers with leaf collection.

But the latest project is different in one respect: It puts inmates closer to the public.

Maj. George McMillan of the Sheriff's Office said signs have been posted in the parks advising residents when the inmates are there. And authorities took care to select prisoners with nonviolent records considered the least likely to flee, McMillan said.

The crew already has finished work at Wasena, Loudon, Garden City, Breckinridge and Eureka parks. They hope to have the rest of the parks spruced up by Memorial Day.

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ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  ERIC BRADY THE ROANOKE TIMES. Roanoke City Jail inmates 
          Jeff Stephenson (from left), Elvin Coleman and Richard Webb paint 
          the restroom building at Eureka Park in Northwest Roanoke on 
          Tuesday. The three men have painted restrooms at four other parks in
          the last two weeks and hope to have the other parks cleaned up by 
          Memorial Day. color.