Blair County Commissioners say they’re continuing the search for a place to build a new county prison after voting Thursday not to move forward with a controversial plan to take an undeveloped part of the Alto-Reste cemetery in Altoona through eminent domain.
"I'm relieved. This has been a long few weeks, that's for sure," said Geoffrey Behrens, the general manager of Alto-Reste Park, where he said about 20,000 people are buried.
Commissioners had faced backlash for weeks from the local community, business leaders and even legislators. Rep. Lou Schmitt introduced a bill this week that would no longer allow government agencies to use eminent domain to acquire unused parts of cemeteries.
Behrens said he supports Schmitt’s bill.
“That bill would ensure that no cemetery, or a religious institution, is what my understanding is, would ever have to go through what we just did," Behrens said.
Amy Webster, a Blair County commissioner, said Alto-Reste is still on the list of places they’re considering for a new prison.
“We will look at other properties," Webster said. "We have a few others, but the issue is going to be it's going to cost more than what we had anticipated.”
Webster said those other sites do not have access to the same utilities as Alto-Reste, which is across the street from the Walmart in Altoona.
Webster said the county needs to find a replacement site for the current county prison in Hollidaysburg, since it is in poor condition and unsafe for inmates and workers.
"There have been a couple of studies by engineering firms and consultants as to its condition, its deplorable condition," Webster said. "It is not safe. It's not secure for our CO's, for the inmates. There are problems I can't even tell you about because there are security issues."
Behrens said he sympathizes with the county's need for a new prison and hopes this process also helped the community better understand that need. But, he said Alto-Reste needs their undeveloped land for future burial grounds.
