Another Step Forward: Land Transfer Key to Prison Plans

Despite a threat by the White House, officials in McDowell County are still transferring more than 400 acres of land at the Indian Ridge Industrial Park to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Thursday's land-transfer ceremony is the latest sign of progress on the 1,280 bed federal prison project. The federal agency awarded a $7.3 million design contract earlier this year for the federal prison, which is proposed near the interchange site of the Coalfields Expressway and the King Coal Highway .

Gordon Lambert, president of the commission called the land transfer another forward step in making the federal prison a reality despite earlier White House efforts to cancel more than $142 million in federal funds already earmarked for the 1,280 bed federal prison.

Lambert said local officials are being joined by U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller and U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall in fighting White House efforts to cancel the project – an endeavor long in the planning stages that is deemed critical to the economic revitalization of McDowell County .

Byrd argued earlier this year that is was “absolutely short sighted” for the White House to attempt to take away federal dollars for a project already approved and signed into law.

The three lawmakers also sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales urging the Bush Administration to withdraw its plan to cancel funding for construction of the federal prison, according to Byrd spokesman Tom Gavin.

We applaud the land transfer, which does represent another important step forward for the federal project. The new Stevens Correctional Center in Welch has reached its maximum inmate capacity and has created more than 120 desperately needed jobs for McDowell County . With the federal prison, another 300-plus jobs will be created, and will help in further expanding the county's tax base.

It is important for officials to fulfill their vision for the Indian Ridge Industrial Park , and the federal prison remains the centerpiece of the long-planned endeavor.

The award of the preliminary design contract, along with the official transfer of the 400 acres Thursday from the McDowell County Commission to the Federal Bureau of Prisons are two important steps toward fulfilling that vision – and adding hundreds of additional and desperately needed high-paying jobs for McDowell County.