KEY POINTS:
Work is about to start on a new Mt Eden prison - 25 years after six Labour MPs expressed dismay at the level of overcrowding in the "primitive" and "depressing" jail.
The $216.3 million project will enable Auckland prisoners to be kept in Auckland, rather than being transferred outside of the region because of a lack of space.
It will also create better living and working conditions for inmates and staff.
The redevelopment of the prison has been under way since 2004, when a report exposed squalid and substandard conditions. The Herald revealed plans for the new prison last year.
Yesterday Corrections Minister Phil Goff said the project budget would include $216.3 million in capital investment and an operating expenditure of $35.6 million over the next four years.
He was one of six Labour MPs who visited the prison in 1983 after the escape of five prisoners.
Their reactions to conditions ranged from dismay at the level of overcrowding to praise for the prison staff for coping so well under "great pressure".
Yesterday journalists were given a rare tour.
In some parts inmates still use buckets as toilets, and a cell in another area can no longer be used because leaking ceilings have flooded the floor.
Keys are still used to lock and unlock the cells - unlike newer prisons which use electronic access to improve security.
At one stage during the tour Mr Goff was temporarily locked into one wing when staff were unable to open a door, because of a temperamental lock.
Mr Goff jokingly replied "OK, OK, you've proved your point" and promised funding would be available for a new prison.
The first phase of the building project - to start late next month - will provide new accommodation for about 450 prisoners.
The site will allow for further expansion of up to 570 beds.
Mr Goff said the shortage of cells in Auckland meant that Auckland inmates had to be moved to and from other prisons around the country, which was expensive and disruptive.
Most of the old prison would be modernised and transformed into an administration area.
But one wing would be kept as is, and might eventually be opened to the public, possibly as a museum showcasing the prison's history.
MT EDEN PRISON
THEN
* Prisoners built the stone wall which still runs around the current prison in the mid 1870s.
* The first prisoners arrived in 1888 and the buildings were completed by 1917.
NOW
* Work starts next month on the new prison, which will have sound-proofed accommodation buildings up to eight storeys high.
* The old prison will be preserved and one wing may be used as a museum or tourist attraction.
