Info on jail being built in Berlin, NH???? (Manchester, Concord: sales, rent)

[Torrey]

Do the people really want this stuff to happen? New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine have done a good job of keeping big business and other ''all and sundry" out for a long time. I know people who work for prison systems may like it, but I don't and I am sure others will not like having convicts imprisoned in such a pristine area of the country either. If I had my way, we would move everyone out of Nevada and make the whole state a prison and get rid of the prisons in all other states.

[nicolem]

Originally Posted by Torrey

Do the people really want this stuff to happen? New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine have done a good job of keeping big business and other ''all and sundry" out for a long time. I know people who work for prison systems may like it, but I don't and I am sure others will not like having convicts imprisoned in such a pristine area of the country either. If I had my way, we would move everyone out of Nevada and make the whole state a prison and get rid of the prisons in all other states.

No- I live in Central New Hampshire and I was very upset when I heard about this. My great concern is who is really going to get these jobs? Guys who worked in the paper mill for 25 years are now going to be prison guards? How many people are going to come from out of state to work here? There is so much beautiful land and lakes,etc outside of Berlin-Lake Umbagog, Dummer, etc. This is going to change the landscape for that area-housing developments will go up, more big box stores,etc. I just don't have a good feeling about this. I feel as though this is going to benefit people from out of state more than the people of Berlin. Are the people in Berlin really going to benefit? In my opinion, contractors, politicians and big companies are taking advantage of the plight of Berlin. They are all the heroes, here to save the day, but they are the ones making the $$. Everything will get pushed right through because they are "saving the city".

My other concern is that they are always trying to push building a casino up there. This may be on the back burner for now because of the prison, but down the road I could see them pushing it through. There is so much open land up there-granted some is conserved but I fear it will turn into another North Conway or worse.

Are actual residents of Berling going to have first shot at these jobs? Will they be offered training and offered the jobs over other out of staters with more experience? Because in my opinion they should.

[Torrey]

Casinos have no business in New England...... What's it going to take to shake the people up enough to get them in the streets at city halls around the states to protest all this garbage?

[GregW]

Prison guards and paper mill mechanics are two completely different skill sets and pay scales. The prison will not "save" Berlin but only exploit it. The city needs to sell itself as a future (and present) high tech manufacturing opportunity in a very pleasant area without the smell of a sulfite process paper mill but with abundant hydropower and extensive manufacturing buildings and space.

[Colebrook]

I went looking for the prison site about a week ago. The newspapers are saying that site work has begun, but all thats happened is they cut a bunch of trees down. They haven't cleaned them up or taken them away yet.
As far as spoiling an area, the Fed/Pen is going right beside the State prison which is in an industrial park. Berlin is a mess, the town itself is falling down. There seems to be an arsonist running amok in the downtown area with12 apartment fires in the last 12 months. These haved killed 3 people, including a 5-year old boy.The town of Berlin needs this prison not only for the jobs it will bring but also for the periphial stores and the like.

[NHHunter]

Originally Posted by Earthangel1776

There is a state prison already there. They are upgrading to a federal prison on the same site and it is definite. This will bring a LOT of economy to the area, which it really needs. Because of the prison construction, they are going to have to put in a Sam's club, and Home Depot and are upgrading the Walmart in Gorham to a super-Walmart. The federal funding plan mandates that these food and material suppliers exist within 1/2 hour of the proposed site. All the realtors are buzzing up there, preparing for the projected shortage of inexpensive rental housing for the construction workers. You can still buy multi-family buildings up there for a song, but prices will be going up soon! The only other economy up there is logging. Tourism is starting to take hold as it is a beautiful area, but I doubt it will ever be like North Conway. They are just opening (and still completing) the world's largest ATV park northwest of the city near Jericho Lake.

The state prison and the federal prison will be 2 separate entities, they are not upgrading

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Colebrook

I went looking for the prison site about a week ago. The newspapers are saying that site work has begun, but all thats happened is they cut a bunch of trees down. They haven't cleaned them up or taken them away yet.
As far as spoiling an area, the Fed/Pen is going right beside the State prison which is in an industrial park. Berlin is a mess, the town itself is falling down. There seems to be an arsonist running amok in the downtown area with12 apartment fires in the last 12 months. These haved killed 3 people, including a 5-year old boy.The town of Berlin needs this prison not only for the jobs it will bring but also for the periphial stores and the like.

It is true that Berlin does need some more jobs. However, building big box stores everywhere is not the answer.This will lead to an even greater decline in the downtown areas of the city. It seems like Littleton and Lancaster have always done better economically compared with Berlin.

[daniellefort]

Well i was born and lived in Berlin for 18 years. My family is still living there and i'm planning to move back soon to be closer to them. This past month when i visited family i was told the state prison is going up just down the road from the federal prison (or vice versa federal and state) right in the spot where we always go to see the moose. Either way the other prison is beginning to clear the land and construction is expected to be completed in 2010. As far as the jobs available, when i was up there there was a huge job fair for local contractors and builders to put bids in to assist in the construction of it but as far as the prison guards and actual employees hired, the majority of them will be transferred from other areas in the south part of the state. The locals will have the benefit for the construction jobs but after that, they will get no benefits of having the prison in their town. My sister has property for sale now up there and she's hoping to hang onto it a bit longer as many people are expecting the employees of the prison to be buying up land and building their own homes very soon. Another friend of mine has her uncle getting approval to subdivide his property to sell it off too so right now or very soon will be the time people will be buying up land in and around the Berlin area. Berlin is a very poor un-educated infested town that people go to only because it's so easy to get on welfare and live in the run down apartments. Yes there's an arsonist there and that would be 12 fires since January this year. The people who worked at the mill (which i know many who have lost their jobs) have no first pick in jobs because the qualifications they have are nothing to what a prison is looking for. When i recently returned, I could not believe how run down the town has become from when i lived there 10 years ago. They only recently got a super Walmart there and i'll say most people who have transportation means go to Portsmouth to the mall for their clothing shopping needs and so on. There is no other big box stores around withing 1 hours drive south. Anything north of Berlin and it's all woods and small villages. Great place to live if you like the outdoors activities but not a great place if you need a job. Hence no jobs, higher welfare recipients. Thankfully i'll be self employed when i move so a job is not a concern of mine.

[sambo42xa]

The Super Wally World-Mart is there. I just drove by it yesterday from a camping trip out of Errol.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by daniellefort

My sister has property for sale now up there and she's hoping to hang onto it a bit longer as many people are expecting the employees of the prison to be buying up land and building their own homes very soon. Another friend of mine has her uncle getting approval to subdivide his property to sell it off too so right now or very soon will be the time people will be buying up land in and around the Berlin area.

The employees of the prison need lots of land to build houses on? What? That does not make a whole lot of sense unless their are very few houses in the town to buy in the first place. I do realize that in northern New England that it is typical to have a house on several acres, but a residential building boom would be interesting in a town like that. Hopefully, they will avoid building too much near the airport because that is an important weather observation station in a rural natural setting.