Apr 10, 2002 By Christine Haines 3 min read

BROWNSVILLE – Running a prison is like running a small town, according to Mark Krysevig, the deputy superintendent for the State Correctional Institution at Pittsburgh. Speaking Tuesday to the Greater Brownsville Area Chamber of Commerce, Krysevig said nearly everything used by the public is needed inside a prison, so businesses interested in being providers for the new SCI Fayette in Luzerne Township should get on the state bid list now. Krysevig said all purchases for the state prison system are done through the Department of General Services and applications to do business with the state are available on-line at www.dgs.state.pa.us

Krysevig said people interested in working at the new prison should also get their applications in at this time instead of waiting for the opening of SCI Fayette next year.

“We’ve been hiring from this area for the past year and a half, two years,” Krysevig said. “Get on the Civil Service list now.”

Krysevig said the new facility will employ 600 to 700 people in a variety of jobs. While all of the current SCI Pittsburgh staff will be offered employment at the new prison, Krysevig said he doesn’t expect all of them to make the move. Many are already taking retirements or transferring to other state correctional facilities, Krysevig said.

“A lot of our new officers are from this area, as are many of our nurses. We are hiring constantly, every day,” Krysevig said.

Krysevig said physician care is through a state contract with Wexford Health Services, but discussions with Brownsville General Hospital will be taking place shortly to determine if the hospital is suitable for inmate medical care.

Krysevig said the new prison should be ready for occupancy in January 2003. Inmates will be bussed into the new facility from Pittsburgh 28 at a time. Krysevig said the transfer will be done fairly rapidly so two prisons aren’t being operated at the same time by one staff. Approximately 2,000 inmates will be housed at the new facility. It should be fully staffed and operational by May 2003. Krysevig said opening the new prison also means opening two manufacturing businesses.

“We will be making license plates for the state. We also make furniture. We’re actually building our own furniture for the facility right now in Pittsburgh,” Krysevig said.

Krysevig said having inmates manufacture the prison furniture saves the state a considerable amount of money.

In other matters, the chamber voted to donate up to $1,000 toward the grand opening of the new Brownsville Wharf on April 20. Chamber president Frank Ricco said arrangements are being made for a barge to be set up at the wharf as a stage for the band and the dignitaries.

“We’ve worked hard with BARC (the Brownsville Area Revitalization Corporation) and the borough to put this together,” Ricco said. “We started it and we want to see it through to its completion.”

The chamber donated the initial money needed for a study done prior to the construction of the wharf.

Two community cleanups are scheduled for Saturday, April 13. At 9 a.m. volunteers will meet in the parking lot behind Sunset Discounts to clean the Dunlap Creek stream banks. More volunteers are needed at 10 a.m. behind Elmo’s on Second Street for a clean up of the South Side, including the wharf area in preparation for the grand opening. Gloves, garbage bags and vests will be provided at both sites. It was suggested that participants bring a bucket to make it easier to transfer trash to the garbage bags, as well as tools such as rakes and shovels.