GOING TO THE SUPER-MAX: TAMMS PRISON TO BE FINISHED IN 1997

TAMMS, Ill. -- The Illinois super-maximum prison here will be one that inmates earn their way into.

But they won't like it, says George Welborn, of the Tamms Correctional Center which is expected to open its super-max doors in December.

The state's newest prison is taking shape just north of Tamms, off Route 127, in what used to be a soybean field adjoining high bluffs.

"A lot of the outside work on the prison is finished," said Welborn, who has more than 20 years' experience with the Illinois Department of Corrections, including four years as warden at the maximum-security Menard Prison at Chester. "We expect to see the facility open in December."

The prison will house up to 500 of the state's most violent, or troublesome inmates.

"This prison is about security," said Welborn. "Inmates will spend 23 hours a day in their cells. They are not put into situation where they will be around other prisoners."

The super-max prisoners will have exercise privileges, one at a time, in a 15 by 30-foot exercise area, with no recreational equipment. They will be permitted to shower, one at a time. They will be fed in their cells and when they have to report for health services or have visitors, they will be cuffed and guarded by two corrections officers.

The cell doors are electronically controlled from control rooms with bullet-proof glass.

"There will be no group activities," said Welborn. For this reason, there are no guard towers.

Prisoners will be allowed to receive adult basic education courses via closed-circuit TV.

The super-max gives the state a new option in dealing with prisoners who have assaulted staff or other inmates.

"Prisoners here will be those who have created problems in other prisons," said Welborn. "They will be sent here for a period of at least one year."

Inmates will not be permitted to have a radio or television the first six months at Tamms. Then, they can buy them if they have not caused any problems.

After a year at the super-max, inmates will be evaluated. "Some may be transferred to other prisons," said Welborn. "Some will never leave here."

Prison officials hope that inmates who spend time in the super-max will spread the word that it is not a facility to be sent to, he said.

"Privileges that were routine at other facilities won't be available here," said the warden. "This is meant to be hard time and it should be hard time. The prisoners will have earned their way in here, and they will have to earn their way out. They won't want to come back."

Super-max prisoners will be housed in 48, 10-man cell blocks. The facility also includes a special 20-bed cell block for prisoners who are being processed for transfer.

The new $70 million-plus prison facility will also include an execution chamber.

"We will not have a death row," said Welborn. "But there will be rooms and facilities for the inmate's family and defense attorneys."

The Tamms facility will be the site of all executions in lIlinois.

Inmates who are sentenced to death will still be housed at Menard and Pontiac correctional centers, both maximum-security prisons.

An inmate will be transferred from their prison cell at Pontiac or Menard a day or two before the scheduled execution, by lethal injection.

Stateville Corrections Center has been the site of executions since Illinois reinstated the death penalty in 1990.

The Tamms Correctional Center will employ about 450 workers. About 85 workers, including 64 corrections officers, are currently employed at the Tamms Center, for operation of a work camp.

Hiring is expected to get under way about mid-year.

The $7.3 million work camp, with about 200 minimum-security prisoners, is already in operation at Tamms. Another 250 correction officers will be added for the super-max, along with an additional 100 employees.

Operating the super-max is costly, said Welborn.

Cost of prison operations at the super-max will average about $35,000 a year per inmate. That is almost double the cost of operations for inmates in other facilities, which cost about $18,000 per inmate.

The administrative offices of the prison are located outside the perimeter of the super-max, and will be connected to the prison via an underground tunnel.

The design and operation of this facility will not allow inmates to threaten or intimidate staff and other inmates.

A perimeter road will circle the prison, which will be guarded by double fences with razor ribbon on the ground and the fence.

The new Illinois Supermax Prison will open later this year at Tamms. The new facility, being constructed at a cost of more than $70 million, is scheduled for opening in December.

-- The Supermax facility will employ more than 250 corrections officers, and more than 100 other employees.

-- The Supermax will contain 48, 10-man cell blocks, to house 480 prisoners.

-- Supermax prisoners will spend 23 hours a day in their cells.

-- The facility will include one 20-cell block for prisoners who are being processed for transfer to other prisons.

-- The cost for operating the facility will average about $35,000 per year per inmate.

-- The facility will include an execution chamber, with rooms for family, friends and attorneys.

-- A $7.3 million work camp facility is already open at the site and contains 200 inmates. The work camp employs 84 workers, including 64 corrections officers.