MCLOUD PRISON FEARS DIE DOWN

McLOUD -- Two years ago, the voice of opposition to McLoud's proposed
women's prison was as loud and angry as a jilted lover on the "Jerry
Springer Show."

Today, that voice is virtually silent.

Fears of the prison's effect on local property values apparently were
without merit. Gravel roads are being built for the trailer home lots being
sold within a half-mile of the rural prison.

"If anyone's griping, it's because they're just looking to gripe about
something," said Ricki Davis, whose home is so close she can make out the
car models in the prison parking lot.

The traditional concern about inmate escapes doesn't bother Davis because
"they're not going to hang around here if they get out. They're going to
get the heck out of here."

In fact, her only fear is the increased traffic -- and speeds -- that will
result when Fishmarket Road, the main road to the prison, is paved.

McLoud, about 25 miles east of downtown Oklahoma City, figures to profit
handsomely from the Central Oklahoma Correctional Facility. The prison will
create 170 jobs and a $4 million annual payroll and will pay McLoud
$156,000 a year in direct revenue for being a good neighbor.

Mayor Wayne Davis said the prison also will pay $24,000 a month for sewer
and water use. Over five years, the utility bills will repay the $618,000
on water and sewer improvements McLoud made for the prison.

Davis said he still hears an occasional grumble about the medium-security
prison.

"Some people are just adamantly opposed to the concept. Other people face
the reality that it will actually be a safer community" because of the many
prison guards who will live and work nearby.

The state Corrections Department is scheduled to send 500 inmates to the
prison beginning in August. Davis said other inmates from Texas and Hawaii
could arrive at the 864-bed prison even sooner.

In addition to the economic boost from employee spending, McLoud also will
gain sales tax revenue from inmates' visitors.

The Central Oklahoma Correctional Facility will be the first private
women's prison in Oklahoma. Four private prisons for men already are open,
and others are being built.

The warden is Howard Ray, who has held the same post at men's and women's
prisons for the corrections department.

"I'm really excited, because women's facilities typically are grown out of
the side of some men's facility. This one is specifically designed to meet
the unique needs of women," Ray said.

Davis said the prison's owner, Dominion Management of Edmond, is paying to
pave SE 15 north of the prison. Paving Fishmarket Road is the
responsibility of McLoud and Pottawatomie County, although Davis said both
entities are working to obtain an industrial development grant to cover the
estimated $100,000 cost.

Ray said the prison's visiting center will feature parenting classes and
other programs geared toward incarcerated mothers.

Ray said he agreed to leave the program-filled state prison system in part
because of Dominion's commitment to similar programs.

The visiting center will be a larger component at this prison than at men's
prisons, Ray said, because an incarcerated mothers' visits with children
are crucial to family success.

"Regardless of whether they're in prison, they see themselves as being the
major caretaker," he said.

The prison includes two two-story housing units, each capable of holding
302 inmates in two-woman cells, plus a 250-bed dormitory divided into six
housing rooms.

Ray said it was designed that way to house prisoners from different states,
because some states require a dormitory setting for females. The first
inmates will play a large role in the landscaping design to give the women
a sense of ownership, Ray said.

Dominion's senior vice president, Jim Hunter, said his company chose McLoud
because of its proximity to University Hospital and to Mabel Bassett
Correctional Center, the only state-owned, high-security prison for women.
Both are within 25 miles.