By William Petroski
Des Moines Register
MITCHELLVILLE, Ia. — Sunshine streams through the windows of the medium-security living units, and the buildings are decorated in pleasant colors of burgundy, blue and green at the $68 million new state women’s prison here.
The goal is to brighten the moods of the inmates and to offer a cheerful environment to prepare the vast majority of them for eventual release from prison, says Patti Wachtendorf, warden of the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women.
She describes it as a “softer, gentler” approach to corrections based on studies of the best correctional practices for women offenders.
“But there is no doubt that this is still a prison. It is not a Holiday Inn,” Watchendorf adds, pointing to the 16-foot fence topped by razor wire that surrounds the 30-acre prison site.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled here Monday that will be attended by Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, plus about 200 other guests, as completion nears on most of the prison renovation and expansion project. Inmates will start moving into their new housing units in December and by the end of February the Mitchellville prison will be the central reception center for all women entering Iowa’s prison system. However, one multi-purpose building won’t be completed until 2015.
Full story: New $68 million Mitchellville women’s prison to offer “softer, gentler” environment for inmates