Ault – Talk among the graying crowd huddled in a dusty corner of Burman’s Clothing Variety crossed a variety of topics.
There was the drought: “Worst I’ve seen since the Dust Bowl.” Colorado’s smoking ban: “Just wait. They’ll be coming for the caffeine next.” The futility of fireworks bans: “All those kids go straight to Wyoming for their fireworks anyway.”
And then, the conversation turned to a prison that’s coming Ault’s way. Yup, Burman’s clientele agreed, the medium-security prison will keep this Weld County farming town of 1,200 from withering away.
“We’re out here now watching Ault just slowly die,” said Charles Burman, whose family-owned store has anchored the main street for a century.
He produced a list of 20 or so businesses that were advertising in an Ault-area newspaper circa 1945.
“Most of them are all gone now,” said Burman, his finger sweeping over the names. They left about the same time the family farms that once encircled and enriched Ault shut down.
Most of the new growth in Weld County is happening south and west of Ault, leaving the town with empty barns and stalls and a feeling that the county’s growth boom will never reach its borders.
But now, the thinking goes, Ault will regain some economic life, now that a 1,500-bed, $100 million prison is in the works just south of town. GEO Group Inc. – a Florida-based prison and detention- center operator – was awarded a bid from the state prison system to build a prison near Ault in two years.
Few, if any, of the men who gathered at Burman’s for their morning confab saw any problems with Ault becoming known as a prison town.
“At least they’ll talk about us,” Frank Backstrum said between sips of black coffee.
Police Chief Tracey McCoy pressed GEO to bring the prison to Ault, seeing plenty of potential in a facility that will hire 350 employees and pay the town up to $300,000 in impact fees.
Prison employees also could spend about $1 million a year in local restaurants and stores, providing a boost for a town with a $400,000 operating budget, McCoy said.
“This will help build our infrastructure, bring our water and sewer systems up to par,” he said. “It will sustain some revenue growth here.”
But not everyone is convinced a prison will help Ault. Rural areas, as a whole, haven’t realized the economic benefits pitched by prison supporters, said Marc Mauer, executive director of the Sentencing Project.
The Washington, D.C., group studied towns that brought in prisons in upstate New York over a 25-year period and found the prisons made little difference in local employment or per-capita income.
“Someone working at a gas station today will not necessarily get the prison job tomorrow,” Mauer said. “And those that work there will maybe stop for a little gasoline on their way home so there is little trickle-down effect for the local economy.”
McCoy, among others, remains optimistic. He served as a police officer in Cañon City and saw how that city benefited from having the state prison inside the city limits. Safety will not be an issue, he added.
“These are all well-behaved inmates who are getting near their parole dates,” McCoy said. “If they cause any problems, they will go to the maximum-security facility.”
The town board will likely hold hearings on the prison proposal this summer, and residents could get a chance to vote on the idea, officials say.
Many already seem solidly behind having a prison for a neighbor.
“Everybody is saying, ‘But look who’s going to be inside there – child molesters and murderers,”‘ said Backstrum, whose wife sits on the town board. “That’s the point: They are inside.”
“We’re losing teachers and other professionals because this town can’t afford to pay them,” said Tammy Osborne, owner of T-n-T Clips & Curls & Tanning Salon, and wife to mayor pro tem Troy Osborne. “If what everybody says is correct, a prison would be great for this town.”
But James Blatter, who sits on Ault’s planning board, wonders if the town would truly benefit from the prison.
“I’m just not convinced it’s the growth opportunity everyone is making it out to be,” Blatter said. “There are lots of other options out there we can look (at) to bring this town a little stimulation. We just have to do a little leg work.”
Perhaps another point for discussion back at Burman’s Clothing.
Staff writer Monte Whaley can be reached at 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com.
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