Gowanda Correctional Facility

The Gowanda Correctional Facility was a medium-security prison for men located in Gowanda, New York, United States.[1][2][3][4] The prison was located in the south part of Erie County in the Town of Collins.[1][2] It was adjacent to the Collins Correctional Facility, another medium-security prison.[1][2] Both prisons were located north of Village of Gowanda at the southern end of Erie County.[1][2][3] It opened in 1994 and closed in 2021.

Gowanda Correctional Facility
LocationSouth Road, Gowanda, New York, USA
StatusClosed
Security classMedium Security
Capacity2,300
Opened1994
Closed2021
Managed byNew York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision
Partial view of Gowanda Correctional Facility with power plant in background at left, September 1996
Partial view of medium-security fencing at Gowanda Correctional Facility, south side, September 1996

History

In 1894, the Erie County Legislature passed an Act that gave rise to the Homeopathic State Hospital (later known as the "Gowanda Psychiatric Center," prior to being much later-converted into correctional facilities) in Gowanda and Collins, New York.[5] Land purchased for the State Hospital by Erie County included 500 acres and was known as the "Taylor tract."[5] When the State Care Act was effected in 1894, the land was transferred to the State of New York, which then conveyed it to the State Hospital.[5] The correctional facility is situated along Taylor Hollow Road in Gowanda, with such road named for the farmer who owned the land that was purchased and used, originally, for the State Hospital.[5]

The grounds and buildings of both the Gowanda Correctional Facility and the Collins Correctional Facility were formerly the Gowanda Psychiatric Center.[1][2] In 1982, 40% of the original 500 acres of the Gowanda Psychiatric Center was utilized for the Collins Correctional Facility.[1][2] The Gowanda Correctional Facility was created using the remaining acreage and facilities and opened its doors in 1994.[1][2] The two prisons are separated by a fence, and were administered independently.[1][2] Gowanda Correctional Facility housed more than 2,300 inmates,[1][2] and was the second-largest prison in New York State.[1][2] Another source reported that the prison housed 1,750 inmates.[4] It also featured one of the largest sex offender counseling programs of the New York State prison systems.[1][2]

Violence by inmates

On February 5, 2014, nine inmates in a housing unit at the Gowanda Correctional facility attacked three corrections officers there.[6] One officer was beaten unconscious by the inmates. He and another officer had concussions and additional injuries. The third officer was slightly injured.[6]

See also

References
  1. Hosting innovative programming: Gowanda, Webcitation.org from the original at Geocities.com, November 1999, Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  2. Gowanda Correctional Facility, PrisonTalk.com, 9 October 2004, Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  3. Facility listing Archived 2016-11-21 at the Wayback Machine, New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, Albany, NY: New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, 2014, Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  4. Gowanda Correctional Facility, The Correctional Association of New York, New York, NY: The Correctional Association of New York, 2005, Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  5. Historical sketch of the Village of Gowanda, N.Y. in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of its incorporation, August 8, 1898, Buffalo, NY: The Matthews-Northrup Company, Leonard, I.R., Reprinted 1998, Salem, MA: Higginson Book Company
  6. Gowanda correctional officers hurt after 9 inmates attack, WGRZ.com, Buffalo, NY: WGRZ, 9 February 2014, Retrieved 19 March 2014.

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