State closes minimum security prison in Bridgewater

The state is closing another prison, this time in Bridgewater.

The Department of Correction last week announced “plans to close housing operations at the Old Colony Correctional Center, a minimum security prison for men,” saying that $2.6 million in capital expenditures would be required to keep the facility open.

The facility, which was built to house about 160 people, currently holds 70 people.

After a reclassification process, they will all be transferred to other minimum security locations by October 31, including the Boston Pre-Release Center in Roslindale, the Northeastern Correctional Center in Concord and the Pondville Correctional Center in Norfolk.

The department said the decision to shut down operations at “OCCC minimum” and relocate the population and staff was based on “a thorough assessment of the facility's age, maintenance needs and required renovations.”

“The historically low population at DOC allows us to assess our facility needs to be a fiscally responsible partner in the state of Massachusetts,” said Shawn Jenkins, interim DOC commissioner. “DOC will continue to support our housed individuals so they can live successfully after release, and we believe closing this facility and relocating the current population will help them thrive.”

DOC described the facility as a 40-year-old prefabricated modular structure on a campus that also houses Bridgewater State Hospital, the Massachusetts Treatment Center and the Old Colony Correctional Center-Medium Security Facility.

The other three facilities will remain open and the DOC plans to transfer 26 correctional officers from the minimum security facility to the medium security facility on the same campus.

Last month, DOC MCI-Concord, which had been in operation for 150 years, closed. The closure provides an opportunity to redevelop a 37-hectare site with 18 buildings.

In June 2023, the DOC completed a phased plan to close residential operations at MCI-Cedar Junction in Walpole, which opened in 1955.