The Stanley Correctional Institution is celebrating its 20th Anniversary on Wednesday, March 1. The Stanley Correctional Institution is a medium-security prison that currently houses 1,500 adult male inmates. SCI first broke ground on September 24, 1998 on 100 acres south of Stanley and Hwy 29. Though other cities lobbied to be chosen, the City of Stanley was selected for the site because it had the water and sewer capacity that was needed to house the prison. Paul Smith, the field superintendent at the time, reminisces, “I’ve been over every square inch many, many times. When I got there it was a cornfield and when I left it was about 500 inmates.”

Scheduled to be an 18-month project, it took almost 5 years for completion. Smith recalls the Stanley Correctional Institution being met with a positive response in the community and explains why it was pragmatic for the Stanley area.

“We need the jobs, quite frankly, and the infrastructure. We had growth in our community after the fact. It stabilized our school population. When all the other communities in the area were losing students, we were holding or even gaining a little bit. That helped with our tax base. I think it turned out to be a good thing,” he said.

People in the community wanted the jobs and the infrastructure built, with many area Stanley residents finding jobs at the prison. “It helped stabilize our community. It even stabilizes our churches, our schools, our businesses,” Smith continued.

The biggest challenge in the opening of the Stanley Correctional Institution was getting it sold to the state because it was built by a private independent company, Dominion Venture Group based out of Oklahoma. Wisconsin had approximately 1,000 inmates housed out of the state and the desire was to have a place to house the inmates in Wisconsin to be near their families. It See ANNIVERSARY, Page 10 took almost a year for the Assembly and Senate to move forward with the $82 million dollar prison purchase by the State of Wisconsin.

Former Stanley Mayor David Jankoski is currently on the prison’s Community Relations Board that meets twice a year to keep community members informed on the issues in the prison. It’s an opportunity for the community to be kept up to date on what’s going on in the prison while the prison also shares the struggles and issues that are faced. While the SCI has dealt with its fair share of expensive repairs and upgrades, the prison’s biggest issue today is staffing. Like many businesses in the country, the Stanley Correctional Institution struggles with finding employees.

Jankoski expounds on the extensive programs for inmates in the correctional facility.

“The prison has been very good in terms of their contribution to the community. They donate a lot of items that the prisoners make and its one way the prisoners can give back to society. They make items and they give to a whole host of organizations in the area. The Lions club donates money to the prison every year. They make hats and mittens to the kids at the elementary school that don’t have any. There’s a lot of give back to the community,” Jankoski details.

The anniversary celebration for the community will be held On March 1st, the Stanley Correctional Institution will be hosting a 20 Year Anniversary Celebration for the community at three time slots: 8 a.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. Tours will be available upon request. Community members will also get to witness a presentation by the Paws Program, a program for inmates that partners with Can Do Canines to train assistance dogs and provide them free of charge to individuals with disabilities.

Smith adds on the success of the prison, “It’s a good facility. Every year they were open they had the lowest cost per bed per day of any facility the state had. Overall, it’s been a good facility.”

Smith also recounts the curiosity that drew state leaders to the Stanley Correctional Institution. He fondly remembers taking former Gov. Tommy Thompson and his wife on a tour of the SCI where Mrs. Thompson accidentally locked herself in a cell. Needless to say, Gov. Thompson found the situation more humorous than his wife did.

Stanley Correctional Institution was officially activated on January 1, 2003. Photo by Danielle Boos