HEMPFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. — After years of sitting empty, SCI Greensburg, the old state prison in Hempfield Township, will soon be coming down.
“It’s probably best for the future to tear it down and put something more constructive in there,” said Joseph Stefko, who lives nearby.
Tearing that old prison down is now going to happen.
Hempfield Township supervisors voted unanimously Monday to award a bid to Ritenour and Sons Construction Company and will spend $732,000 to get rid of asbestos and other hazardous materials and tear down the former medium security prison, which was built to hold 900 inmates. That money is coming from a state grant.
SCI Greensburg has been closed since 2013 but has been used to film several movies and television shows, including “Mindhunter” and “Mayor of Kingstown.”
The township bought the prison and the land two years ago with the hope of redeveloping the property after private investors were unsuccessful.
“We felt it was the right thing to do, but it wasn’t without risk,” said Bill Bretz, a Hempfield Township Supervisor. “But now that we’re nearing the finish line, it certainly was a risk worth taking and we’re going to be rewarded with a 96-acre site in a prime location ready for business.”
It’s too soon to determine what kind of business could take over that land. Bretz said that will be determined when the demolition is finished and through permitting processes.
Stefko, who has lived just steps from the old prison since it was built, welcomes the change. But he’s worried about what it could bring.
“I think one of the big concerns around this area is the highway system here and the ability for truck traffic to negotiate these roads,” Stefko told Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek. “They’re not built for that sort of weight limit and for the flow of traffic, the number of cars that might be involved in anything they put back there.”
Bretz said the demolition work could be done within a year.
“It’s a great day for the community to get this blighted property off the map and move forward with whatever exciting new development might spring forth from this,” he said.
Work could start on bringing the old prison down in the next 60 days.
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