FORT MADISON, IOWA -- Officials marked the beginning of construction of a new maximum-security prison in Fort Madison that will replace a prison that is older than the state.
Gov. Chet Culver and others joined for the ceremony Thursday, celebrated the start of a $130 million project scheduled for completion in 2014. The new prison will house 800 inmates.
Culver says some site preparation work is already under way and is under budget. The Legislature approved the bonds to pay for the prison construction.
It will replace one of the nation's oldest prisons. Parts of the southeast Iowa prison date to 1839, a year after Iowa became a territory and seven years before it became a state.
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