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DENVER—A rural county commissioner and Colorado state officials have made a personal trip to Washington to lobby federal authorities to find a new use for a prison that is closing in southeast Colorado.
Bill Long of Bent County and Gov. John Hickenlooper’s Chief of Staff, Roxane White, were among those in the capital Wednesday lobbying officials to find a new use for Fort Lyon Prison.
The prison belonged to the federal government and was a VA medical facility before it became a state prison. The prison is a major employer in Las Animas, but is scheduled for closure next year because of state budget cuts.
The area’s congressman, Rep. Cory Gardner, has also lobbied the Veterans Administration to revive the facility.
