Northville Township Buys Old Prison For $1
NORTHVILLE TWP. (WWJ/AP) - Northville Township officials have completed a deal to buy the former Robert Scott Correctional Facility from the state for a bag full of pennies.
The township paid $1 for the 53-acre property at 5 Mile and Beck, and is developing a demolition plan, according to a report by The Detroit Free Press.
Township Manager Chip Snider said the goal is to make sure the property "will never again be a prison."
According to the sale agreement, the state is entitled to 40 percent of any profit should the township sell the property.
Township Supervisor Mark Abbo said the purchase will diversify the tax base and take some of the tax burden off residents.
The facility opened as a women's prison in 1991 and was closed in 2009 as a measure to save the annual $36 million operating costs. Since then, the state's Department of Corrections has reportedly been spending about $100,000 annually on maintenance and security costs for the prison and the adjacent vacant property.
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