A $40-million expansion at a Canadian prison failed to get one thing right: locks.
For a year after the Springhill Institution’s revamp, the medium-security facility in Nova Scotia sat empty because its cell doors wouldn’t lock, a prison spokeswoman confirmed.
Computerized locks securing the facility’s two new units were malfunctioning and some lights didn't work, among other deficiencies. The units had already been delayed by a year due to construction, and the glitches resulted in another yearlong delay before the first unit opened in September, Cathy Theriault, a spokeswoman for Correctional Service Canada, told The Huffington Post.
“In our business, you kind of have to make sure that everything is perfect,” she said.
The first unit opened about two years after the facility’s scheduled 2012-2013 completion, and the first inmates arrived this fall. The second and final unit opened this month.
Locals anticipating around 100 government jobs at the new facility were reportedly questioning its status.
“They were trying to find out why [the units] weren’t open, when they’d be open and when the jobs were coming. It was very disappointing,” Maryanne Jackson, a councillor for the municipality of Cumberland, told the National Post.
The facility’s expansion was reportedly part of a $2.1-billion plan to add 2,700 beds to correctional facilities across Canada. The Springhill Institution's expansion specifically added two 96-bunk units.
But according to the National Post, Springhill’s inmate population when the expansion was first announced in 2010 was 397.
That's nearly two dozen more than the 375 inmates living at the facility as of Tuesday. It's designed to hold about 568, Theriault said.
“Our population is a bit lower than it normally is right now,” she told HuffPost. “I think it's just trends in the region. We're not the only institution.”
Scott Armstrong, a former Conservative member of Parliament who announced the prison's expansion in 2010, suggested a positive reason behind the empty units in September.
“Maybe there’s been some success with the anti-crime legislation where people aren’t committing as many crimes,” he told the Chronicle Herald.
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