WCMessenger.com: GEOs WC center celebrates 20 years

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GEOs WC center celebrates 20 years

By Staff | Published Thursday, September 10, 2009

It's now been 20 years since the Bridgeport Correctional Center was built at 4000 N. 10th Street in Bridgeport.

It all began in the 1980s when times were tough in Wise County. Oil production was off, rock trucks sat idle, jobs were scarce and banks were failing. Crime was up, and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice was feeling the crunch with too few beds to house incarcerated felons. The idea of contracting with private companies to house Texas inmates was just on the horizon.

In Florida, that idea was seen as an opportunity by Dr. George C. Zoley, president of the Wackenhut Corrections Corporation. WCC had opened a private prison in Kyle just south of Austin in March 1989, and the company had begun looking for a site north of the Metroplex. Company representatives approached the city of Springtown about building a private prison there, but the idea was met with strong opposition.

Hearing of WCC's offer and seeing a chance to increase job opportunities and tax dollars for city coffers, the civic leaders in Bridgeport approached the Wackenhut group about building the prison in Bridgeport instead. A deal was cut, property bought and after a contract with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice was finalized, an all male pre-release prison was built at the north end of 10th Street. On Aug. 10, 1989, 500 inmates were transferred by bus to the Bridgeport Correctional Center.

The prison proved to be a good neighbor. More than 100 people found jobs there almost immediately. Not only were there security positions to be filled, there was a need for clerical, medical and educational personnel. Skeptical citizens' feelings were assuaged somewhat when teams of trustee inmates were dispatched to manicure the Harwood City Park, street rights-of-way, and other public areas. An inmate service club repaired broken bicycles for children and raised money by washing employees' cars to provide a wheelchair for a needy local child. Elaborate Christmas floats were built by inmates and entered in the city's annual Christmas parade, often winning first place. Deserving graduating seniors in the county still vie for college scholarship funds endowed by the company every year.

Through the years the Bridgeport Correctional Center became known throughout the company and in the industry for its standard of excellence. The facility was first accredited by the American Corrections Association (ACA) in 1991. Its Education Department was certified by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) in 1992. Several employees, who began their corrections careers at Bridgeport, have been promoted to higher levels of responsibility within the corporation. The facility remained a Wackenhut Corrections Corporation facility until 2003, when the company's name was changed to The GEO Group Inc.

On July 31, a celebration was held at the facility to mark the company's 20-year contractual association with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

The visitation room was elaborately decorated. Tables, dressed in white, were accented with blue and green starbursts and centered with miniature GEO flags that had been handmade for the occasion by education counselor Darlene Bonner. The head table, covered in blue, was decorated with swags of white and green on which were placed large letters denoting the 20th anniversary. The dessert table was draped with green and blue organza swags and featured a cake decorated with a blue and green GEO flag on a field of white. A display of collages of pictures taken at special events over the facility's 20-year history filled one corner of the room.

After a luncheon of steak and shrimp, Warden David McComis welcomed guests to the anniversary celebration. Chaplain Phillip Yoder offered the invocation, after which McComis introduced former Bridgeport Chaplain David McIntyre, who performed a delightfully modified rendition of the old Elvis Presley song "Trouble." Education Director Doris Bollinger read congratulatory letters from Dr. George C. Zoley, president of The GEO Group Inc.; Greg Skeens, Facility Administrator of GEO's Eastern Region, who began his corrections career as recreation specialist in Bridgeport; former Bridgeport Warden Priscella Miles; and Deputy Warden Bobby Thompson.

McComis introduced former Bridgeport Warden Don Houston who said, "Bridgeport Correctional Center became the model for other GEO facilities. There is an integrity that permeates the operations here. That is the lesson I learned here, and I have taken that lesson with me to the regional and corporate levels of the company."

Warden John Campbell of the Val Verde Correctional Center in Del Rio recalled some of his experiences while working in the Classification Department at Bridgeport. He was promoted through the ranks and served as warden at the facility in 1994-95 before becoming the warden at a GEO federal facility in California for a time.

Bridgeport Police Chief Randy Singleton thanked McComis for the invitation to join this occasion and spoke of the satisfactory working relationship the city's police force has had with the prison through the years.

"Our two entities have worked closely together to coordinate emergency plans," he said, "and the correctional center continues to make its firing range available to local law enforcement agencies for training and recertification of officers, which is greatly appreciated."

At the close of the festivities, five GEO employees were recognized for their 20 years of service to the Bridgeport Correctional Center. They are McComis, who left the oil field to become a corrections officer in 1989 and is now the facility's warden; Rick Denney, who also began his career in corrections at Bridgeport, and now holds the position of major; Doris Bollinger, who began as a teacher in the education department in 1989, is now the education director; education officer Jackie Davis and supply officer Linda Roberds.