SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The state has paid $12.4 million to purchase land for a new state prison west of the Salt Lake International Airport.
State officials announced the purchase of 323 acres Friday in a news release. The land will be a site of a 4,000-bed prison expected to be completed by fall 2020. Lawmakers last year approved the site.
The Utah Division of Facilities Construction and Management says the price comes in well below land cost estimates that were as high as $30 million. The entire project is expected to cost around $550 million.
Last month, architects said they’re trying to find the best ideas from hundreds of other modern correctional facilities around the country to create a campus that focuses on the rehabilitation of inmates so they don’t commit more crimes and return.
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