Sunday Poll: Should the St. Louis Workhouse Remain Open or be Closed?
For a while some have been pushing the City of St. Louis to close its Medium Security Institution, commonly known as the workhouse. Others have argued it can’t be closed because the downtown facility doesn’t have capacity to handle all inmates.
From September 2018:
In a report released Thursday morning by the Close the Workhouse campaign, organizers make their case as to why St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner and the St. Louis Board of Aldermen should shut down the facility at 7600 Hall Street, which holds roughly 550 people, the vast majority of whom are awaiting trial.
City officials say it isn’t feasible to close an institution that houses hundreds of people facing felony charges but add they are taking steps to reduce the jail population without risking public safety. They’ve also pushed back against recent complaints about jail conditions, offering reporters a tour of the facility in March. The building may be old, said Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards at the time, but it is clearly functional.
The Close the Workhouse report says that contradicts the “unspeakably hellish” conditions former inmates, several of whom are now organizers, experienced while they were inside. (Post-Dispatch)
Debate about closing/not closing the workhouse, located at 7600 Hall St, continue. This is the subject of today’s poll:
Today’s poll will close at 8pm.
— Steve Patterson