State of Massachusetts is closing prison due to “facility’s age, maintenance needs, and required renovations”, third to close in recent years

Michael P. Norton

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

The Department of Correction announced Thursday “plans to conclude housing operations at the Old Colony Correctional Center minimum-security men’s facility,” saying the facility would need $2.6 million in capital investments to continue on.

There are 70 people currently incarcerated at the facility, which was built to accommodate about 160 people.

Following a reclassification process, they will all be relocated by Oct. 31 to other minimum-security locations, including 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 end operations at “OCCC-Minimum” and relocate its population and staff was “based on a thorough assessment of the facility’s age, maintenance needs, and required renovations.”

“The historically low population within the DOC allows us to assess our facility needs in order to be a fiscally responsible partner in the state of Massachusetts,” Interim DOC Commissioner Shawn Jenkins said. “The DOC will continue to empower our housed individuals to succeed upon release and we believe the closure of this facility and relocation of the current population will help them flourish.”

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

The other three facilities will remain open, and DOC plans to move 26 correctional staff from the minimum-security facility to the medium-security facility on the same campus.

Last month, DOC closed MCI-Concord, which had been operating for 150 years. The closure creates an opportunity to redevelop a 37-acre tract that includes 18 buildings.

In June 2023, DOC completed a phased plan to end housing operations at MCI-Cedar Junction in Walpole, which had opened in 1955.