MINEVILLE, N.Y. (WCAX) – State officials are turning off the power at a prison in New York’s North Country four years after shutting its doors, leaving some local leaders frustrated about the decommissioning process.
It was a few days after Governor Kathy Hochul’s State of the State address that Moriah Town Supervisor Matt Brassard said he got a call that the former Moriah Shock prison was being decommissioned.
“There was no contact at all with anyone, town officials to let us know that was happening,” Brassard said.
New York’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said after nearly four years of paying the electric bill and no reuse plan for the empty building, they wanted to save taxpayer dollars.
The department said decommissioning helps protect building assets from continuous exposure and vandalism by sealing windows and doors. It also ensures proper drainage and shut down of utilities to prevent damage, leaks, and deterioration.
However, Brassard said he believes the decision could do the opposite. “Once you turn something cold and dark, you know, everything just starts to fall apart, and it becomes even more costly to reopen something that has been shuttered for years,” Brassard said.
Moriah Shock is one of three former prisons the governor referenced in her State of the State plan, calling for a constitutional amendment that would lead to them being made available for development.
“Why not just keep the place heated and lights on and keep the maintenance up on the place. It is only going to help when you get to the point of reuse,” Brassard said.
In nearby Malone, Mayor Andrea Dumas said she’s worried Bare Hill Correctional Facility, which officially closes in early March, could face the same fate as Moriah Shock, despite DOCCS saying otherwise.
“We are concerned that they may take this state-ready facility and close it because they are doing that with Moriah Shock, but we already have Camp Gabriels sitting in our community vacant and dilapidated and a big concern,” Dumas said.
Brassard said the state and town are still in a dispute over who pays for a $150,000 utility bill at Moriah Shock, while Dumas said she still hasn’t heard whether the state will pay Bare Hill’s water once it’s closed.
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