UTAH (ABC4) – Thanks to coordination from multiple state agencies, thousands of inmates have now been transferred to a new Utah prison.
From July 11 to July 15, 2,464 inmates were transferred from the Utah State Prison in Draper to the new Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City.
The new Utah State Correctional Facility (USCF) is located five miles west of the Salt Lake City International Airport and is replacing the current prison facility in Draper. The massive project is six years in the making, with the land for the new facility purchased back in 2016.
The total cost of the facility, including infrastructure, is approximately $1.05 billion.
Comprised of 35 buildings and 1.35 million square feet of operational space, the facility spans 172 acres and holds 3,600 beds with the ability for future expansion if needed.
“The new facility features increased daylight for both incarcerated individuals and staff, greater access to programming opportunities, uncompromised security and safety, and normalization of life for the incarcerated individuals to aid them in re-entering society,” says the Utah Department of Corrections.
Officials say keeping the current prison in Draper would cost the state an estimated $239 million in repairs and upgrades over the next 20 years to keep the facility operating at its current capacity.
“This transfer required tremendous forethought and coordination given the logistics and security concerns,” said Gov. Cox. “We offer our sincere thanks to Director Brian Nielson, the entire team at the Utah Department of Corrections, and the many other state and local agencies who helped for their professionalism and dedication. Ensuring a safe and secure move to our new state-of-the-art corrections facility was a monumental task and we congratulate everyone involved on a job well done.”
State officials say the Draper prison site will be redeveloped and estimated to bring in around $1.8 billion in annual economic output and $94.6 million in annual tax revenue for state and local governments.
Normal operations are expected to resume at the Utah State Correctional Facility on July 18.
