Posted on 08/24/2004 3:49:22 PM PDT by Former Military Chick
The stone and steel colossus that has been the symbol of U.S. military justice for 127 years is coming down in a cloud of dust and broken rock at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. Demolition began Aug. 16 on the Civil War era confinement facility commonly called the “Castle.”
And despite its history, attempts to keep it standing failed.
“A reuse study was done for the Castle, but none of the options proved feasible and all were very costly,” said Leavenworth public affairs officer Janet Wray.
Those options included converting the structure to a conference center, records storage facility or urban training center.
Some of the other buildings within the 1877 prison complex will remain, including the distinctive rock walls and guard towers, according to Wray. “The entire area is part of the Fort Leavenworth Historic Landmark district,” she said.
The prison’s inmate population was dispersed to other military facilities two years ago. The most serious offenders now are housed across post at the $69 million sate-of-the-art U.S. Disciplinary Barracks. That opened in 2002, and was accredited by the American Correctional Association in May 2003. The facility is located on a 51-acre plot of hills and woods that previously was the old prison’s farm area.
With a population of more than 400, the USDB is the military’s largest prison. It houses murderers and other felons with sentences of seven or more years.
The general inmate population is housed in three cell complexes called “bow ties,” each consisting of two two-tier cellblocks, and a common area with chairs, televisions and pay phones.
Death-row inmates and maximum security prisoners are segregated form the rest of the inmate population.
If there was real justice, John Kerry would be serving a life sentence at Fort Leavenworth for giving aid and comfort to the enemy while an officer of the United States Navy.
I stopped by Ft. Leavenworth with my father a few years back. A very tasteful, historical base ... and the elegant old prison is part of it. I'm very sorry that it will be lost. It must be a Chick thing :-).
I would have to agree, I used to live just down the hill from the prison and it is a fixture on the post.
Military news
Dang, I was thinking of sending my ex-boyfriend there. Now it sounds too nice.
I visited Leavenworth some years back. This is a neat building. Some of the residential areas are pretty impressive.
Hell hath no fury...
Have we met?
I love those old, Midwestern bases and their officer housing. I've even cleaned a few :-). The Army didn't pay much, but they put a roof over your head!
You can spend ten years at Leavenworth, eleven years at Twelveworth, or five to ten years at Woolworth. (line (mangled) from a Marx Bros. movie).
Probably.
Then you show very little gratitude for the dozen roses I sent you in apology. And don't give me that, "They looked like they were taken from a grave!" routine. I bought them fresh off that guy by the Interstate on-ramp.
Was that you? The card was mangled by a badger.
If I had a nickel for everytime I've heard that one...
Where on the grounds is the prison, near the river? Turning it into a museum would seem natural but I suppose being on a military reservation would make civilian access another headache.
As a young child my father was stationed at a base not from here, I recall a Sunday drive and we drove up to hystorical Leavenworth. As I saw the prison from a distance, I knew one thing for sure I would never EVER get in trouble. I thought the beds were size of the window. Way to small for this chick!
Nothing like a prison tour to put you off crime! I remember a visit to Yuma Territorial Prison in Arizona (my family would tourize *anything*!) Unbelievably miserable!
I actually agree with you. My beloved seems to think it was recently used in a Redford movie that was based at a prison. Don't know, but, it would have I think made it's keep by being a museum.
Access is currently a headache so an added one certainly would not have bugged me. There was very little in the KC and local news that it was to be no more. Oh well.
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