KEY POINTS:
Auckland's inner-city Mt Eden Prison is 140 years old but is to be overhauled.An eight-storey jail is to replace the prison and should take inmates by 2011.
Last year, a Corrections report describes the prison as sub-standard and unsafe, inefficient and falling "well short of the basic requirements for a modern corrections facility".
So is it time to bowl it or improve the facility?
This forum debate has now closed. Here is a selection of your views on the topic.
Girl (Wellington)
Several people have been making comments about the destruction of the current Mt Eden site. Corrections have clearly published on their website a document outlining what they plan to do. This does not, at any stage, include the demolition of the historical Mt Eden site. Other comments such as "Send them all back to Australia where they came from" are based on nothing but bigotry and unsupported opinion. I suggest "Rich" does some research before making such juvenile remarks in future. Mr Brian Rudman informs us in his article that the cost of a bed at the new Women's facility was approximately $550,000 per bed compared with a sum of $143,000 per bed to purchase an apartment in a particular area of Auckland. Perhaps Mr Rudman would like to take into consideration the security measures that must be put in place for such a facility to run? This is most certainly a great deal more than "a few rolls of razor wire." I would recommend that people take a look at the information provided on the Corrections website before getting too involved in putting down the Department for work that is, in comparison to corrections facilities in many other countries, to a very high standard.
J Spencer
Mt Eden is on my bus route up to Auckland. It is an historical building and should be dealt with by
1. Shutting down and transferring existing prisoners to other prisons when practicable.
2. Using the prison as a touring/tourist facility that people pay to stay in overnight - ghoulish but they're doing it in Australia (and National thinks everything Australia does is perfect). Also, consider it as an educational tool to inform the public about the realities of prisons that have no rehabilitative vision, just barbaric psychological torture.
Albert
Whoever came up with the idea of upgrading Mt Eden Prison is stupid. There are quite a few islands out there, why can't a large prison be built on one of the islands and chuck the whole lot of criminals there? They can grow their own food, cook for themselves, built their own prison extension, etc, pretty much DIY. It will save taxpayers heaps, and oh yes, there's no cellphone coverage, so they can have as many handphones as they wish. Mt Eden Prison is in a very prime location. I am sure proceeds from the sale of it to a private developer will fund a bug chunk of a new prison on an island.
Martin (Mother England)
Re Rich (Auckland): Don't send the prisoners back to Oz, they're probably POM's - they'll likely be sent back up-over!
Keith (Wellington)
There should be links/walkways to the school next door so that inmates can get some good re-education while being locked up. I agree that the non-criminal public should get the privilege of paying to see what jail is really like. Paying guests would help pay for housing the real crims. The inside of the historic jail is as important as the outside. I think it is a shame when the only thing left of an historic building is the location and a thin shell over a modern building. Also the statement, "Pen Pushers now working from behind bars" makes a good sound bite or headline.
Crazy, no sense of history.
We don't have many 140-year-old buildings in Auckland or New Zealand and we tear it down! Very few have such classic architecture and history. Crazy! There is a car wreckers yard down the road that could be used. Multi-story is great but save some relics of history for the future. It should be a museum or a hotel or something. Sell it with a covenant on keeping the basic building.
Dafix
I agree that we need to upgrade the facility and increase the capacity, but it would be interesting to see the design plans. I would be really peeved if the final design was more like a holiday hotel than a prison. Criminals are there to be punished. Well saying that, maybe you could use the current crop of criminals to help build it.
Rich (Auckland)
Would be better to send all the inmates back to Australia where they mostly originate.
Judith Hollyman
If the prison is too old and we need a replacement then it should be built on another sight. The perfect opportunity to get the prison out of the city - a fresh start somewhere else. I'm sure the sight could be put to much more appropriate use in central Auckland in this 21st century.
Mike (Auckland)
The 'Old Mt Eden Prison' is in a prime location to act as a tourist attraction. Old prisons oversea's have been turned into some very interesting places to visit, and would add another (albeit) unusual attraction to central Auckland. Having worked at the old Mt Eden for a number of years, I'm sure there are many out there who would find a visit somewhat of a shock when it is realised just what it is like inside. I have seen the 'Old Melbourne Gaol' and that is set up rather well with guided night tours a specialty! (And it turns a dollar as well!). Has to be worth a thought!
Marlene
I think that the jail should be saved as a historical building and a new prison should be built in a different location.
Shrenik
We have a poor history of thinking into the future.We need to make sure if a 6 storey building is going to have enough capacity to take in inmates 15-20 years in the future, considering the current 'lack of space' and the increase in crime. And hopefully the cost of building a cell will not be more than the cost of a house in Auckland.
Steve (Sydney)
Sell the site for re-development for commercial & residential use. Build a new prison in Hamilton.
