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The State Correctional Institution – Phoenix is a state prison in Skippack Township, Montgomery County,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, with a Collegeville postal address,SCI Phoenix
"
Pennsylvania Department of Corrections The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PADOC) is the Pennsylvania state agency that is responsible for the confinement, care and rehabilitation of approximately 37,000 inmates at state correctional facilities funded by the Commonwealth of P ...
. Retrieved on September 26, 2018. "Facility Address: 1200 Mokychic Drive Collegeville, PA 19426"
in the
Philadelphia metropolitan area Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since 1 ...
. Operated by
Pennsylvania Department of Corrections The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PADOC) is the Pennsylvania state agency that is responsible for the confinement, care and rehabilitation of approximately 37,000 inmates at state correctional facilities funded by the Commonwealth of P ...
, it was named after the
phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
bird. Built for $400 million, making it the state prison built for the highest cost in Pennsylvania history, it has a capacity of 3,830 prisoners, and as of September 2018, its full time workforce numbered 1,200.
Heery International CBRE , Heery, formerly known as Heery International, Inc., was founded in 1952 by George T. Heery and his father C. Wilmer Heery Jr., and is a full-service architecture, interior design, engineering, construction management, program management, ...
designed the facility. It replaced
SCI Graterford SCI may refer to: Companies *Service Corporation International, an American funeral service provider *Shipping Corporation of India *SCI Systems, merged into Sanmina Corporation, electronics manufacturing *SCi Games, a video game developer Orga ...
. Most prisoners are male, located in the East and West sub units, while it has a re-entry unit for female prisoners with a capacity of 192. The female unit is not in the main prison perimeter. SCI Phoenix houses some men who are sentenced to death under Pennsylvania law. The department of PA Corrections anticipated that most of the prisoners would be from the area of Philadelphia, and currently SCI Phoenix is the state prison closest to Philadelphia. - Se
the diagram which indicates the "capital unit"
/ref>


History

The SCI Phoenix buildings were built on the SCI Graterford land area, and the Phoenix and Graterford buildings are about apart, with SCI Phoenix fencing beginning about 1,100 feet east of SCI Graterford's fencing. The first bidding for construction of this prison occurred in the decade of the 2000s. The prison, originally to open in November 2014, opened late since Walsh Heery Joint Venture, the construction company, and
Hill International Hill International, Inc. is an American construction consulting firm. Founded in 1976, the company's corporate headquarters are in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. Hill provides program and project management, construction management, cost engi ...
, a Philadelphia company representing the State of Pennsylvania, had a dispute over whether the prison was ready to open. , the prison's final cost was still not finalized. On June 1, 2018, its dedication ceremony was held, and the prison began operations on July 9, 2018. The state began moving Graterford prisoners there on July 11, 2018, and Graterford ended operations on July 15. Graterford's employees now were employees of Phoenix. Some inmates disliked the move as they feared they would be sharing cells with other inmates, while at Graterford they had single cells. The population of Graterford was to reduce to 2,588 inmates by June 2018, so that the transfer of inmates to Phoenix would not involve as many people, and Phoenix eventually opened, with 2,633 prisoners. Initially, prisoners with life sentences who had single cells at Graterford would continue to have single cells at Phoenix.


Composition

Many prisoners are two to a cell, and most cells have the dimensions by . Phoenix has 3,422 beds. It has inmates convicted of capital murder, many from the Philadelphia area and most of whom were sentenced to life imprisonment but with some under death sentences, housed in a dedicated section of the prison, called the "Capital Unit." That section is larger than the previous capital case section that was in Graterford. The PADOC stated that the prison hoped to move inmates with death sentences from SCI Greene, where most death row and capital murder inmates in Pennsylvania reside, to SCI Phoenix so that the prison system can more easily transport them to court proceedings.


Notable inmates

* George Banks, convicted spree killer. Originally sentenced to death, sentence commuted to life in prison on May 12, 2010 after he was declared incompetent to be executed. *
Cool C Christopher Douglass Roney (born December 15, 1969), known by the stage name Cool C, is an American former rapper active in the late 1980s. He is also known for his involvement in the murder of Philadelphia Police officer Lauretha Vaird durin ...
, rapper and murderer. Sentenced to death. *
Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...
, actor, comedian, and formerly convicted sex offender who was released on June 30, 2021 after his conviction was vacated by the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System. It also claims to be the oldest appellate court in the United States, a claim that is disputed by the Massachusetts Supreme J ...
. *
Eric Frein Eric Matthew Frein (born May 3, 1983) is an American domestic terrorist and murderer, convicted and sentenced to death for the 2014 Pennsylvania State Police barracks attack in which he shot and killed one State Trooper, and seriously injured an ...
, ambushed 2 Pennsylvania State Police, murdering Corporal Bryon K. Dickson Jr., in September 2014. Sentenced to death. * Melvin Knight, one of the murderers of Jennifer Daugherty. Sentenced to death. * Joshua Komisarjevsky, one of two men who committed the infamous
Cheshire, Connecticut, home invasion murders On July 23, 2007, Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky home invasion, invaded the residence of the Petit family in Cheshire, Connecticut, Cheshire, Connecticut. Though initially planning only to rob the house, she and Komisarjevsky murdered Je ...
. Connecticut inmate incarcerated in Pennsylvania, originally sentenced to death commuted to life in prison after the death penalty was declared unconstitutional by the Connecticut Supreme Court. Currently incarcerated in SCI Mahanoy. * Joseph Ligon, America's oldest and longest-serving juvenile lifer. Originally sentenced to life in prison without parole, released on February 11, 2021, after the United States Supreme Court declared life sentences without parole for juveniles unconstitutional. *
Harvey Miguel Robinson Harvey Miguel Robinson (born December 6, 1974) is an Americans, American serial killer currently imprisoned on death row in Pennsylvania. He was 18 when he committed his violent spree, killing three and injuring two. Background Robinson's father ...
, serial killer. Sentenced to death. * Ricky Smyres, one of the murderers of Jennifer Daugherty. Sentenced to death. * Ronald Taylor, spree killer who perpetrated the 2000 Wilkinsburg shooting. Sentenced to death.


References


External links


State Correctional Institution – Phoenix
-
Pennsylvania Department of Corrections The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PADOC) is the Pennsylvania state agency that is responsible for the confinement, care and rehabilitation of approximately 37,000 inmates at state correctional facilities funded by the Commonwealth of P ...

SCI Phoenix
-
Heery International CBRE , Heery, formerly known as Heery International, Inc., was founded in 1952 by George T. Heery and his father C. Wilmer Heery Jr., and is a full-service architecture, interior design, engineering, construction management, program management, ...
*
Tour Pennsylvania's newest prison: SCI Phoenix
" -
Pennlive ''The Patriot-News'' is the largest newspaper serving the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area. In 2005, the newspaper was ranked in the top 100 in daily and Sunday circulation in the United States. It has been owned by Advance Publicati ...
at
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:State Correctional Institution - Phoenix 2018 establishments in Pennsylvania Buildings and structures in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Capital punishment in Pennsylvania State prisons in Pennsylvania