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for the Ohio Division of Corrections
Bubnitted August twenty-fourth nineteen hundred and fifty-one in partial fulfillment of
the require:ments for the degree laster in Architecture
Nicholas A. Tekusha
Professor Lawrence B. Anderson ead of Department of Architecture 1,assachusetts Institute of Technology
A Classification Reception Center for the
Ohio Division of Corrections.
by Nicholas A Tekushan
submitted for the degree of Master in Architecture in the
Department of Architecture on August 24, 1951.
The purpose of the New Penology is the long-range protection of society. The emphasis on the method by which this can be best accompltshed is currently shifting from more punitive confinement to diagnosis and rehabilitation with individual-ization in the treatment of offenders as the key thought.
Classification is fundamentally a method of coordinating diagnosis and treatment throughout the correctional process.
The Classification Recention Center with a well-trained pro-fessional staff forms the hub of a correctional system. All adjudged offenders are committed to this specialized Center for diagnosis, for classification and for transfer to the proper treatment institution.
The Ohio application represents an architectural case study based on a required housing capacity of seven hundred and
fifty offenders and a period of stay of ninety days. The
study deals with program development, site selection and design analysis. Plans and elevations are included.
Cambridge 39, Massachusetts August 24, 1951
Dean Pietro Belluschi
School of Architecture and Planning Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Dear Dean Belluschi:
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Architecture, I submit this thesis entitled, "A Classification Reception Center for the Ohio Division
of Corrections."
Respectfully yours,
I wish to express my appreciation to the following for
the assistance extended me during the course of my thesis work.
In the Field of' Penology:
Mr, Maury C. Koblentz, Assistant Chief
Ohio Division of Corrections, Columbusp Ohio
Mr. Henry J. Mascarello, Executive Director
United Prison Association of Massachusetts Boston, Massachusetts
Mr. George W. 5lade, Director of Public Information United Prison Association of Massachusetts
Boston, Massachusetts
Mr. Roberts J. Wright, Assistant Secretary American Prison Association, New York, N.Y.
In Governmental Agencies:-'
Mr. Clements, Director
Franklin County Planning Commission, Columbus, Ohio Mr. Sam DeVoss
Franklin County Building Department, Columbus, Ohio
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology:
The following faculty members of the School of Architecture and Planningi
Professor Lawrence B. Anderson Professor Herbert L. Beckwith Professor William H. Brown Professor Kevin A. Lynch Professor Robert B. Newman Mr. Thomas McNulty
David M. Pellish, Graduate Student in City Planning
A. Gordon Wheler, Jr., Graduate Student in Sanittry Engineering
A Classification Reception Center for the
Ohio Division of Corrections
is still a "Pokey"
TITLE PAGE ABSTRACT
LETTER OF SUBMITTAL ACKNOWLEDGMFi1aTS
A HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF PENOLOG-Y IN THE UNITED STATES 1 TOWARDS A NEWi CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
The Theories of Crime 5
The Objectives of the New Penology 7
The Function of the Classification Reception Center 9
The Form of the New Institution 12 THE OHIO- APPLICATION - A CASE STUDY
The Need 16
Program Development 19
Receiving and Classification 20
Admini stration 26
Housing 28
Educational Facilities 31
Recreational Facilities 36
Kitchen and Dining Facilities 39
Inmate Service Center 43
Medical Facilities 47
Security 50
Site Selection
General Site Considerations 56
Proximity to an Urban Center 56
Urban Centers Considered 57
Relationship to County and City Growth Patterns 59
Relationship to Principal Highways and
Railroad Facilities 59
Relationship to Air Transportation 60
Relationship to a Small Community 61
The Problem of Water Supply 61
The Problem of Sewage Disposal 63
Site Selected 64
Real Estate Survey 65
General Data
Climatological Survey 66
DesignAnalysis 68
BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDIX
Following Page
A. Organization Chart 20
B. Classification Procedure 20
C, Commitments by County and by Age to 57
Ohio State Correctional Institutions
(Male felons 16 years of age and over)
D. Map showing Principal Highways and 57
Passenger Railroade serving Central Ohio
E. Franklin County Map indicating Growth 59
Pattern and Principal Highways and
Railroads serving West and South Areas
of County
F. Photographs showing General Character of 64
vice of shallowness and fails to realize what is has done. When the man's punishment is over, it leaves him to
him-self ... it abandons him at the very moment when its
highest duty towards him begins."
A HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF PENOLOGY IN THE UNITED STATES
The substitution of imprisonment for corporal punishment in America had its inception in Philadelphia under the guiding hand of the Society of Friends or Quakers. Tho zealous efforts of the Quaker reformers and other inter-ested persons, through the Philadelphia Prison Society,
led to the renovation of the Walnut Street Jail in 1790
and the establishment there of a state penitentiary.
Prior to that time prisons were used primarily for the detention of persons awaiting trial and for the confine-ment of debtors. Misdemeanants and felons were either
fined or, if less fortunate, were subjected to various
rather brutal forms of corporal punishment.
The act establishing the new system of prison managemen-t
and treatment instituted in the Walnut Street Jail called for solitary confinement and hard work as reform measures.
As the word penitentiary would indicate, the Quakers felt
that solitary cellular confinement would induce reflection and penitence.
Out of this experiment grew the Pennsylvania or Separate System of prison discipline, probably first put into com-plete and systematic operatlion in the Eastern State
The Pennsylvania System established the architectural pattern of outside cells with a central corridor and the use of the radiating-wing type of cell block.
Under this system the prisoner lived and worked in sol-itude; in fact, often the only humans the prisoner ever saw were the keeper and the prison chaplain. The prolonged silence, needless to say, left many mentally unfit for re-lease into society.
The Auburn State Prison in New York built in 1816 repre-sents somewhat of a departure from the Pennsylvania System. Under the Auburn or Silent System, a prisoner was confined
in a single cell at night and worked in silence in a work-shop with fellow prisoners during the day. In addition to the manufactured goods turned out, this system of forced silence also produced quite a number of inarticulate intro-verts.
The cells at the Auburn State Prison were just high enough to stand in, long enough to lie in and wide enough to
stretch your arms in, one at a time. The cells were built back to back in rows, tier upon tier, with all openings on outside corridors. Although larger cells were used in later installations, the Auburn State Prison did establish the architectural pattern of rectangular cell houses and inside cell blocks.
Time and experience finally showed that to punish, abase and mentally incapacitate human beings was not exactly con-& ducive to reformation.
In the Reformatory System first introduced in this country in 1876 at Elmira, New York, rehabilitation was given
priority over punishment as the purpose of incarceration. The Reformatory System followed the pattern of the Irish Prison System introduced several years earlier in Europe. At the Elmira Reformatory the rules on silence were relaxed,
and an incentive grading system which permitted a shorten-ing of the time of imprisonment through the act of good behavior was substituted for the definite sentence.
Unfortunately, the physical plant of the Elmira Reformatory was designed for maximum security, and many later reform-atories followed the same oppressive pattern. This de-plorable persistency has undoubtedly handicapped reform-atory work considerably.
The United States Bureau of Prisons makes this interesting
observation1 .
"The Auburn system won out over the Pennsylvania system in the United States and has dominated our
1 Handbook of Correctional Institution Design and
Construc-tion, United States Bureau of Prisons, Washington, 1949,
prison administration and construction ever since
that time. This triumph of the Auburn system was
due In part to the fact that shop industry was more productive and profitable than work carried on in
individual cells, thus offering a more favorable economic prospect than the Pennsylvania plan."
The introduction of the reformatory was definitely a recog-nition of the importance of inmate classification and most
certainly indicated a modification in the prevailing theory of crimei
TOWARDS A NEW CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
(J The Theories of Crime
The classical theory of crime is based upon the assumption that right is always right and wrong is always wrong and that man is free to make his choice irrespective of his psychological make-up and the circumstances involved.
The classical theory, then, ignores sociological and psychological factors almost entirely and subscribes to the philosophy that the nature of the crime can be the only basis for the measurement of a mants depravity. This theory prevailed from primitive time up to the latter part of the eighteen hundreds with little modification.
Evidence of the popularity of the classical theory can be
found even in the works of Gilbert and Sullivan. For example, in Act 11 of the operetta, The Mikado, written in 1885, the Mikado sings out:
"The billiard sharp whom anyone catches His doom's extremely hard
He's made to dwell
-In a dungeon cell
On a spot that's always barred
And there he plays extravagant matches In fitless finger-stalls
On a cloth untrue With a twisted cue
And elliptical billiard ballse
My object all sublime I shall acheive in time
-To let the punishment fit the crime
-The punishment fit the crime,"
Advances in psychology and sociology, however, paved the way for the positivist theory according to which there must be an individual interpretation in each case taking into consideration not only the nature of the crime com-mitted but also the psychological make-up of the criminal and tho circumstances under which he committed the crime, Hereditary and congenital handicaps and sociological
fac-tors all enter into such an interpretation.
It is in this direction that lie the objectives of the
It is generally agreed that basically the primary purpose of penal-institutions is the immediate and long-range
pro-toction of society. The nopular argument is that imprisonment
not only incapacitates individuals from committing crimes during the period of incarceration, but that, as a threat, it
deters others and that, as punishment, it results in the
reformation of some criminals.
It is interesting to note here that over 95% of all
pris-oners are eventually returned to society, most of them
within a relatively short time. If the socially-maladjusted
individual is.not treated for this malady, if, as is fre-quently the case, the prison experience not only fails to
bring about an improvement in the character of the offender but actually contributes to the individual's degeneration,
then, ironically, the public is actually maintaining at considerable expense to itself a socially-destructive in-stitution.
Professor Frank Tannenbauml observes that the New Penology
has "three definite and inescapable objectives" which are
actually interconnected.
(1) "The prison system must prevent the deterioration
Tannenbaum, Frank, Crime and the Communit, Ginn and
which is an almost inevitable by-product of confine~ ment. It must seek to prevent the regression, the Introversion, the self-centering, the substitution of imaginary for real interests, the tendency to
day-dreaming, the disposition to cast back to previous
satisfying experience as a substitute for the lack of
current experience."
(2) "Secondly, the prison must seek to break down undesirable
habits which the individual brought with him into the prison.1t
(3) it....it must go further and deliberately seek to
in-culcate new habits and interests."
Individualizntion in the treatment of criminals is then the guiding thought behind the New Penology. To accomplish the ends mentioned above, it is important that the inmates be kept busy doing new things, acquiring new skills and
secur-ing new interests.
The purpose of the New Penology, then, is the long-range pro-tection of society; and it is ossentially the emphasis on the
method by which this can be best accomplished that is changing
--changing from mere punitive confinement to diagnosis and
reha-bilitation -- changing from a passive method to an active
The Function of the Classification Reception Center
Edmund R. East1 observes that classification "has two distinct applications predicated, however, upon the same
basic principles and objectiven and interrelated in
operation.
"There is, first," he notes, "a classification of insti-tution within a given correctional system wherein each
institution is designed by structure, program and per-sonnel to treat a certain type offender; second, there is-the classification, i.e., systematic study and individ-ualized treatment, of offenders within each institution."
Classification, then, is fundamentally a method of coor-dinating diagnosis and treatment throughout the
correc-tional process.
There are at present three types of classification systems in the United States.
(a) The Classification Clinic
The Classification Clinic is actually a diagnostic unit within an institution. Under the clinic arrange-ment diagnostic reports with recommendations are made to the administrative autiorities by professional
1 East, Edmund R., Classification Reception Centers, J.Crim,
personnel. The objectiong to the clinical unit are
twofold:
(1) There is no assurance that the diagnostic report
will be used and
(2) There is no connection in procedure between
diagnosis and treatment.
(b) The Integrated Classification System
The Integrated Classification System is one in which the classification committee consists of both the professional and administrative personnel of an
institution. Here the professional staff handles the development of the diagnostic material, but the classi-fication committee consisting of both professional
and administrative personnel enters into the transla-tion of this material into a treatment program. The major objection to this type of integrated unit lies in the fact that technically it makes the professional personnel subservient to the administration and its needs and, therefore, makes it possible to relegate proper classification to a secondary position in the institution's program.
(c) The Classification Reception Center
Under the Classification Reception Center setup
center for diagnosis, for classification and for transfer to the proper treatment institution. Under this plan each treatment institution must also have a classification organization which will observe the effects of the recommended program on the indi-vidual and suggest reclassification when this is deemed necessary.
By delegating the responsibility for collecting
diagnostic information to one such center, greater specialization is permitted and a more accurate designation of treatment institution and treatment
program is assured. The Classification Reception Center as a separate unit is practical, however, only in the larger states.
The American Prison Association1 feels that at the present time "reception centers would achieve their greatest
usefulness and best efficiency if located outside of, and administratively separated from, any other institution".
Undoubtedly, the Classification Reception Center is the hub of the correctional system under the New Penology.
1 Handbook on Classification in Correction Institutions, American Prison Association, New York City, 1947, p 24.
4 The Physical Form of the New Center
Several of the more progressive states already have fairly large Classification Reception Centers in operation. To the best of my knowledge, however, not one of these Centers
operates in a physical plant designed expressly for that purpose. In short, there is no prototype in existence.
One of the largest units and probably the most publicized for its work is the New York Reception Center located at the Elmira Reformatory. The Department of Correction of the State of New York gives the following description of
the physical facilities of the unit1 .
"The Reception Center occupies a unit of Elmira Reformatory paralleling 375 feet of the north wall and including 132 feet of the east side or front of the Reformatory. The large cell block contains 352
outside cells; these are arranged in four tiers, 88
cells to a tier, and 44 cells on either side of each tier. The cellblock itself opens into the Reforma-tory auditorium at the far end, thereby providing easy access to the auditorium for motion pictures and Protestant religious services. Catholic services are held in the Reformatory Catholic Chapel. The front
end of the cellblock opens on one side into the yard
Reception Center, Department of Correction, State of
between the Reception Center cellblock and D block of the Reformatory, thereby providing an outdoor' recreation area 390 by 80 feet. In addition to the
large cellblock there is a small cellblock which originally contained 64 inside cells. Nineteen of
these cells have been removed or taken over for store-room, employees' toilets, and other purposes, leaving
45 cells for additional inmate housing. Seven cells on the lower tier of B block are now used for segre-gation purposes and 14 on the upper tier next to the medical unit are used for an infirmary. There is, therefore, overall regular housing accommodation for,
376 inmates.
"In addition to the cellblocks, there are six areas, each 50 feet by 50 feet, which have been altered to provide the necessary offices and space for program activities. These areas house the following facili-ties:
(1) Business and administrative offices.
(2) Medical unit including examination room, drug
(3) (4) (5) (6)
room and laboratory; the Chaplains' offices;
the parole office.
Exploratory vocational shop, Recreational room.
Psychological and psychiatric unit.
"The ground floor has been altered to include front entrance, key room, visiting room, receiving and package room, clothing room, shower room and barber
shop.
"The Reception Center is, therefore, self-sufficient
except for the following facilities and services
which are provided by Elmira Reformatory.
(1) Kitchen and messhall. Reception Center inmates
eat at different times than Reformatory inmates. (2) Laundry.
(3) Maintenance and reOairs,
(4) Hospital, - for serious illness and emergency
cases only. All physical examinations and
treatment of minor illnesses are handled in the Reception Center. There are rarely more than one or two Reception Center inmates in the Elmira Reformatory hospital.
(5) Utilities, - power, light, heat and water."
Because offenders committed to a Classification Reception Center are generally unknown quantities, there is an inclina-tion to overstress security and, hence, to turn to existing correctional institutions with their tool-proof steel and
massive walls for inspiration This will only inhibit the
It is up to the architect to construct a new physical
environmentt one which will have a favorable psychological effect on the newly-committed offender; one in which the
aims of the New Penology - classification, segregation
and rehabilitation can be effectively carried out; yet
} THE OHIO APPLICATION - A CASE STUDY
The Need.
During the two years or so since the Division of
Correc-tions has been activated under the Department of Public Welfare of the State of Ohio, great strides have been made
in providing the State with a progressive correctional system.
Realizing that a Classification Reception Center would be of little use until facilities were available to carry out the segregation and individual rehabilitation recommenda-tions of the Center, the Division of Correcrecommenda-tions conducted several classification studies of inmate population to determine the facilities that would be required. The
Department of Public Welfare in 1949 recommended as a
min-imum
(a) The retention and remodeling of the Ohio Penitentiary as a maximum security institution;
(b) The conversion of the Ohio State Reformatory at
Mansfield into a medium security penitentiary;
(c) The retention of the London Prison Farm as a minimum security unit;
(d) The erection of a new Training School at Marion;
(e) The erection of a new psychopahic unit at the Lima State Hospital and
(f) The erection of a new defective delinquent unit at the Lima State Hospital.
When operating as planned, these institutions would have
the capacities indicated below.
Unit Capacity
Ohio Penitentiary (maximum security) 2,400
Mansfield Penitentiary (medium security) 2,000
London Prison Farm (minimum security) 2,500
Marion Training School (minimum security) 1,500
Psychopethic Unit - Lima State Hospital 600 Defective Delinquent Unit - Lima State Hospital 600
With these institutions as a basis the Department of Public Welfare has further recommended:
(a) The enactment of enabling legislation to provide for a central receiving center to which all male felons
16 years old and over would be committed for
observa-tion, classification and segregation; and
(b) The enactment of enabling legislation that would
author-ize the Classification Reception Center to assign an offender to the institution which could best carry out the individual treatment program recommended.
The courts, then, would commit the offender to the
Classi-fication Reception Center rather than to a specific
As a result of the experimental classification studies
made over the past couple of years in Ohio, it is recommended that the period of stay at the Center be set at ninety days. On the basis of court commitments over the preceding years, with provisions for expansion taken into consideration, it
is further recommended that adequate facilities be provided
for a maximum capacity of 750 offenders.
In determining the best location for the Center, considera-tion should be given the economic possibility of erecting next to it at some future date a new Ohio Penitentiary to replace the present plant built in 1834 in what has since become the heart of Columbus' commercial district.
Program Development
For purposes of simplification the study of the program
has been divided into the followin5 admittedly inter-related sections.
(a) Receiving and Classification
(b) Administration (a) Housins
(d) Educational Facilities
(e) Recreational Facilities
(f) Kitchen and Dining Facilities (g) Inmate Service Center
(h) Medical Facilities (1) security
(j) Adjunct Facilities
The minimum staff requirements recommended by the American Prison Association for a Classification Reception Center with a capacity of 325 to 375 were used as a guide. 1
Receiving and Classification
The two graphical charts, Organization Chart -
Classifica-tion RecepClassifica-tion Center and Classification Procedure, show the proposed operation of the Center probably more clearly
and concisely than a written explanation.
Although the Classification Reception Center's program is an integrated procedure, it can for purposes of analysis
by divided into the following general sections.
(a) Reception Procedure.
(b) Testing and Interview Schedule# (c) Activities Program.
(d) Classification Committee Procedure.
(e) Transfer.
The reception procedure, in turn, can further be subdivided
into the following steps in the order given.
(a) Examination of Commitment Papers by Receiving Officer.
(b) Disposition of Personal Clothing. (c) Bathing.
(d) Preliminary Medical Examination.
(e) Issuance of Clean Clothing.
(f) Completion of Details of Identification including:
(1) Fingerprinting, (2) Photographing, and
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PSYCHOLOGIST PSY C HIA T RIST1ONAL VOCATIONA L SOCIOLOGIST
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R E C 0 MME N DS INSTITUTION OF CONF INEMENT 6 TREATMENT PROGRAM C L AS S IF IC AT ION BY RE PORTS 5
F IN D INGS C LASS I F I CA T ION
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b I(3) Taking of other Identification Data.
The admission operation could be considerably simplified if commitments were received between certain hours only, say 9 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon on weekdays.
Because of the size of the State and the limited transporta-tion facilities from some points, 9 to 5 would probably be more logical; and, consequently, some individual hold-over rooms would have to be provided for those arriving too late in the afternoon to be processed.
The testing and interview schedule for each man is prepared
by the Case Coordinator. During this period the inmate is
given various psychological, mental, educational, mechanical aptitude, interest and personality tests. He is given a
complete physical examination and interviewed by the chaplain, the psychologist, the psychiatrist, the educational super-visor, the vocational supervisor and the sociologist. The report of each of these staff members is submitted to the
Case Coordinator.
The inmatets program of activities during his stay is based
on these tests and interviews. During this time, social
workers- can obtain additional information from the inmate's
community~and staff members can observe how the inmate reacts and adapts himself to the activities program.
The reports from the various departments are then combined into what is called an admission summary for presentation to the Classification Committee. Copies of this summary are furnished the members of the Classification Committee and the Ohio Division of Corrections. These copies are generally distributed one or two days before the Classi-fication Committee meeting so that members may have an opportunity to review the complete report prior to the meeting.
As is indicated on the organizational chart of the
Classi-fication Reception Center, the Classification Committee consists oft
(a) The Director,
(b) The Assistant Director, (c) The Case Coordinator,
(d) The Chief Custodial Officer, (e) The Chief Psychologist,
(f) The Chief Psychiatrist, fg) The Chief Sociologist,
(h) The Chaplain,
(i) The Chief Medical Officer, (j) The Educational Supervisor, (k) The Vocational Supervisor, and
(1) The officer directly in charge of the housing unit
After the future program and institution of the inmate is tentatively planned, the inmate is called in and given full opportunity to discuss the program with the Classification Committee. It is considered important that the inmate know that the Classification Committee has taken an interest in planning for his future and that this planning was the result of the concerted effort of all on the staff.
Transfer to the appropriate institution follows.
The Committee on Classification and Case Work of the
American Prison Association presented this very effective summaryl of the importance of the reception-classification period,
",The reception period presents an opportunity for the members of the staff to get a clear picture and accurate estimation of each inmate. It gives the inmate an oppor-tunity to ask questions and discuss problems which are
causing him trouble, It helps him to accept the reality
of commitment, It makes him feel that he is being treated as a man and not as a number. He becomes in-terested in his own improvement And developmont when he realizes that he is planning with the staff his own
program of rehabilitation,"
Handbook on Classification in Correctional Institutions, American Prison Association, New York, 1947, p 46.
Receiving - Transfer Receiving Lobby
Receiving-Transfer Office
Overnight Holding Rooms, 20 required
Processing Hold Room, with lavatory
Personal Clothing Inventory and Wrapping Personal Clothing Storage*
Bathing and Dressing Area
Preliminary Medical Survey Room Transfer Hold Room, with lavatory Clothing Issuance Room
Bertillon Room, with Darkroom
Clothing Stock Room* Staff Toilet
Corridors, stairs and so forth
Approximate Space Requirements in square feet 250 300 4,000 500 150 300 600 225 500 350 400 800 - 75 2,100 10,550 * May be in basement.
Receiving and Classification
Class if
icat
ionClassification Control Center Waiting Area
Assistant Director's Office Secretary's Office
Case Coordinatorts Office
Psychiatrists' Offices, 6 required Psychologists' Offices, 6 required Sociologists' Offices, 4 required
Interview Rooms for Social Workers, 4
Testing Room
Social Workers' Office with Vault General Clerical Office
Record Storage (may be in basement) Central Record Vault (recent records) Classification Committee Room
Staff Conference Room Staff Toilets
Inmate Toilet Stock Room'
Corridors, stairs and so forth
Approximate Space Requirements in square feet 300 400 300 175 175 700 700 500 400 600 600 700 800 300 400 500 200 30 150 2,670 10,600
Only thoso administrative functions that are not an integral
part of other sections are included here.
Of these the visiting lounge offers many interesting design
possibilities. The customary screen separating inmate and visitor has given way to plain desks and tables in many correctional institutions. Possibly prison visiting can be made even more effective in promoting inmate adjustment* Possibly the visiting room should be a large lounge visually broken up into small conversational groups where visitors
could sit comfortably and talk with their loved ones. The
occasional dangerous person could be restricted to one of the small interview rooms, and the doubtful inmate would
need only to be watched a little closer. Additional
super-vision, if considered necessary, could be provided for through such moans as the use of one-way glass.
For visiting to hove any therapeutic value, it seems
Administration
Outside Security Perimeter
Entrance Lobby (Information, Waiting
Area, Product Display, Public
Toilets and Public Telephones) Director's Office, with lavatory Secretary's Office
Conference Room
Interview Rooms, 2 required Business Office
Chief Clerk's Office, with Vault General Office
Mail and Censoring Room Staff Toilets
Inside Socurity Perimeter
Visiting Lounge
Interview Rooms, 2 required
Inmate Waiting Room, with Lavatory
Corridors, storage and services
Approximate Space Requirements in square feet 900 300 200 400 200 400 300 300 250 200 700 200 175 1,425 5,950
Housine
The housing.problem in such a Center is complicated by the fact that offenders fall into every security classification
from maximum to minimum. To design all the housing units
on the basis of maximum security would obviously be both wasteful and psychologically undesirable.
Group segregstion in such an institution can probably be
best achieved through the use of smaller housing units.
This makes it possible to easily increase or decrease
in-mate groupings on the basis of security by relatively small incroments or to easily take over a unit for medical pur-poses in case of an emergency. Segregation could further be effected without the usual feeling of isolation through the introduction of group recreational areas preferably near the entrance to each housing unit. Under this scheme each group would have its own outdoor area.
For maximum sunlight and fresh air outside rooms are pre-ferred. There is also an expressed preference for individual rooms over congregate housing even though admittedly dormi-tory housing would not be as expensive. For one thing, an individual room can be made to look less institutional and provides some privacy to which an inmate is entitled. The use of single rooms also tends to minimize the problem of sexual perversion.
For outside rooms, the United States Bureau of Prisons
recommends a space allocation1 of 200 square feet per
per-son. This includes provisions for corridors, stairs, toilets
and so forth. Special segregation housing to take care of
3% of the inhates is also recommended.
Each room must have a water closet and lavatory. Shower
fixture requirements2 for congregate use are as follows,
1 to 6 inmates - 1 fixture.
7 to 16 inmates - 2 fixtures.
17 to 50 inmates 3 fixtures. 51 to 100 inmates - 5 fixtures.
2 Ibid., p 196.
Handbook of Correctional Institution Design and Construe-tion, United States Bureau of Prisons, Washington, 1949,
General Housing,750 rooms
Segregation Housing, 20 rooms Day.Rooms, one per housing unit
Requirements in square feet 150,000 4,000 21,600 175,600
The fact that approximately 60% of the adjudged offenders committed to Ohio state correctional institutions in 1950 were under thirty years of age lends emphasis to the im-portance of a well-planned educational program as a
p.ten-tial rehabilitation measure.
The purpose of the education program at the Center will be:
(a) To determine the inmate't education needs and
poten-tialities,
(b) To develop an understanding of desirable goals and social values,
(c) To implant confidence and the desire for
self-improve-ment, and
(d) To recommend a suitable course of study which the inmate
can pursue at the assigned institution and which will
prepare him for release.
The educational program may be broken down into four general
class if ications1.
(a) Social Education.
(b) General Academic Education. (c) Vocational Education
1 Details for a comprehensive educational program may be
found in the Manual of Suggested Standards for a State Correctional System, American Prison Association, New York, October 1946, Chapter 9, pp 1-4.
The social education program will be essentially one of orientation designed to develop healthy attitudes and sound
social values. By encouraging the inmate to frankly
ex-press his feelings on social values, problems of adjustment, and education in general, the counselor can over a period of time usually evaluate the inmate's sincerity and the degree to which the inmate can control his emotions.
The general education program will consist mostly of short refresher and general interest courses intended to develop confidence and an urge for self-improvement. Because of the time element this portion of the program will not be very extensive.
The vocational shops are not intended to be used to teach inmates new trades during their short stay at the Center.
R ather, they are intended as exploratory or tryout units
for use by picked groups. These shops will aid the counse-lor in determining the type of vocational program, if any, for which the inmate is best suited and in predicting the inmate's vocational adjustment.
The incorporation of maintenance work into the vocational program should also be considered. Some inmates may express
a keen interest in, or because of a handicap may be best suited for, one of the services. Brief tryout periods may
be desirable in these cases. Some suggested applications are:
(a) Plant Maintenance,
(b) Laundry,
(c) Maintenance of Grounds, and
(d) Food Preparation and Service.
Since approximately 15% of the Center's inmate population will always be in quarantine, hospitalized or otherwise unavailable for the educational program, the number of shops and classrooms can be reduced accordingly.
The following formula should gXve a good approximation of the number of classrooms
required.-Total number of Average number of
men available class hours per week
for the program X per man : Number of rooms
Average size of Number of available required.
classes class hours per week
On the basis of approximately 35 men per classroom at six to nine hours per man per week, 9 units would be required. Two of these should be larger units for visual-aid use. This
takes into consideration the fact that the average room with
even a carefully prepared schedule will be used only about 70% of the available time.1
Evenden, E.S., Strayer, G.D. and Engelhardt, N.L., Standards for College Buildings, Bureau of Publications, Teachers
Based on a capacity of 25 men per shop at six to nine hours
per man per week, five tryout shops wi'th some diversity of
equipment would be adequate to meet the needs of the
voca-tional program.
In computing the required areas, the following recommenda-tions for school design were used:
Classroomal 25 square feet per man
Shops2 80 square feet per man
2 Ibid. p 353.
Based on applicable data in Time-Saver Standards, F. W.
Educational
FacilitiesExploratory Shops, 5 required General Classrooms, 7 required
Visual Aid Classrooms, 2 required
Educational Supervisor's Office Educational Counselors' Offices, 7 Vocational Supervisorts Office Vocational Counselors' Offices, 5
General Offices, 2 required
Corridors, toilets, storage, etc.
Approximate Space Requirements in square feet 10,000 6,125 3,500 300 700 300 500 600 7,275 30,500
Recreational Facilities.
The American Prison Associationi points out that recrea-tional facilities are of great value:
(a) "as a disciplinary control measure,
(b) "as a positive factor in the mental and physical
health of inmates,
(c) "as a wholesome outlet for energies that might
other-wise
find
destructive outlets" and(d) "as a neans of instruction in cooperation and teamwork.
Recreation, then, has its proper place in the rehabilitation program. To meet the diversified interests of such a group,
quite a wide variety of sports should be provided. Provi-sions should also be made for rest areas, complete with grass, trees and benches, where older men could sit and watch the
younger and more active participants.
The changing and shower room will replace the conventional gymnasium locker room. Instead, wire clothes baskets will
be furnished. These will be checked at the equipment and
basket check room for the time that the inmate is participat-ing in the recreational program. The changparticipat-ing and shower room, then, would be free of places where items could be
easily concealed and free of all obstructions that might interfere with supervision.
Manual of Suggested Standards for a State Correctional System, American Prison Association, New York, 1946, Chapter 12, p 1.
A gymnasium1 68 feet by 111 feet, somewhat larger than the standard basketball court, should be adequate. Such a gymnasium would accommodate three practice courts 35 feet by 60 feet.
Space allocations for most of the recreational facilities included in the program are based on data listed in
Time-Saver Standards,2
1 Evenden, E.S., Strayer, G.D. and Engelhardt, N.L.,
Standards of College Buildings, Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City, 1938,
p 165.
2 Time-Saver Standards. F. W. Dodge Corp., New York, 1946,
Recreational Facilities
Indoor Activities
Gymnasium (90? x 135')
Individual Exercise Area (25' x 50') Volleyball, 2 courts
Handball, 3 courts
Changing and Shower Room
Equipment and Basket Check Room Offices
Corridors, storage and so forth
Outdoor Activities
Baseball Diamond
Softball Diamonds, 2 required
Touch Football (can overlap diamonds) Volleyball, 2 courts
Quoits, 6 areas
Deck Tennis, 3 courts
Circulation and Rest Areas
Approximate Space Requirements in square feet 12,150 1, 250 6,000 2,400 6,000 800 600 10,000 39,200 97,500 100,000. 54,500 6,200 12,000 2,160 90,640 363,000
Kitchen and Dining Facilities
The inmate dining arrangement presents one of the most contro-versial problems in the design of a correctional institution, Proponents of the large dining room argue that the central kitchen and dining room arrangement provides the most
econom-ical and efficient distribution of food.
The opponents point out that:
(a) The large dining room has been the scene of the great majority of prison riots,
(b) Segregetion of classified units is not achieved,
(c) The unnecessary amount of movement required in marching
prisoners from the housing unit to the dining room and back just presents a greater guarding problem, and
(d) The large room is used only a few hours a day, whereas
smaller dining rooms located adjacent to each housing unit could also be used for recreational purposes.
That the great majority of prison riots start in the large dining room and that segregation of classified units is not
achieved under this arrangement is generally agreed.
If small dining rooms were located adjacent to each housing unit, however, adequate means would have to be provided for getting
transp.ortation.
If identical housing units and dining rooms. were placed
one over the other, hot food could be quickly dispatched
by dumb-waiter. Many feel, however, that the skyscraper has
a definite institutional appearance and that psychologically, therefore, it would not be the happiest solution.
Small dining rooms in each housing unit would involve assig
ing several men to dining room duties at each meal. Because
of the schedule that each man rMust follow, especially during the first three or four weeks at the Center, this is not particularly desirable.
To provide a number of small dining rooms near the kitchen,
on the other hand, would still involve the movement of
in-mates between the housing units and the dining rooms. This,
however, need not present a serious custodial problem if
the serving schedule and circulation patterns are properly
worked out, Considering the fact that the inmate spends most of his evenings and weekends in his housing unit, a walk to the dining room would probably be a very welcomed chan'e.
It is, therefore, proposed that a number of smaller dining rooms be provided with the serving and tray-washing equip" ment forming a core which could be easily supervised from
a central kitchen.
The United States Bureau of Prisons recommends the following
space allocations.1 Corridors, toilets and so forth are
included.
(a) Dining facilities - 17 square feet per person.
(b) Kitchen facilities - 15 square feet per person.
Handbook of Correctional Institution Design and Construc-tion, United States Bureau of Prisons, Washington, 1949,
Requ
in s Food PreDaration and Bakey
General Food Preparation Room Meat Cutting Room (Refrigerated) Vegetable Preparation Room
Vegetable Storage (Refrigerated) Garbage Rofrigerator
Trash Room
Scullery, with Pot and Pan Storage Kitchen Proper
Stewardts Office (centrally located)
Janitor's Closet (off of kitchen) Inmate Locker and Lounge Room
Lavatory and Toilet Room (near lockers)
Soap and Detergent Closet
Daily Store Room (coffee, extracts, etc.) Staff Kitchen
Staff Dishwashing Room
Bakery, with Flour and Bread Storage
Inmate Dining
Staff Dining, 2 shifts
Staff Lounpe and Toilets
29,450 irements auare feet 13,500 12,750 1,700 1,500
The library, auditorium, chapels, commissary, barber shop and band and choral room have been rather arbitrarily grouped under this heading.
For the three major elements the United States Bureau of Prisons has recommended the following space allocations.1
(a) Library - 5 square feet per inmate. (b) Auditorium - 10 square feet per inmate. (c) Barber Shop 0.9 square feet per inmate.
It should also be noted in this connection that the American Prison Association recommends2 that the size of the library be based on a minimum of ten books per inmate, that
shelv-ing be provided for 85% of the collection and that seatshelv-ing
be provided for 5% of the institution's population.
Addi-tional shelving, however, should be provided to permit expansion within a book classification and thus avoid the frequent shifting of books. In schools3 the stack space is generally increased 40% over the area required to shelve the collection.
1 Handbook of Correctional Institution Design and
Construc-tion, United States Bureau of Prisons, Washington, 1949, p 189.
2 Manual of Suggested Standards for a State Correctional System, American Prison Association, New York, 1946, Chapter 10, p 7.
3 Evenden, E.S., Strayer, G.D. and Engelhardt, N.L.,
Standards for College Buildings, Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City,
in the newer Federal correctional institutions. This has been found to be more effective in creating an interest in
the library than the pickup and delivery system under which inmates were forced to choose their books from a printed
list. The library should be kept open during the evening hours. For security reasons, therefore, it should be lo-cated more in relation to the housing units than with
respect to the educational facilities.
The auditorium, it is felt, should not be designed to serve
a dual function. Entelhardt, Engelhardt and Leggetti note that "it is a physical impossibility to combine the char~
acteristics of a good auditorium and a good gymnasium into a successful hybrid."
A similar situation arises when an auditorium is made to
serve as a chapel. For one thing, the religious atmosphere
is lacking.
In a gymnasium-auditorium, the use of portable seats presents
both an administrative and, in such an institution, a security problem. Moreover, portable seats in an auditorium of any size constituto a definite fire and panic hazard.
Engelhardt, N.L., Engelhardt, NL.Jr., and Leggett, Stanton, Planning Secondary School Buildings, Reinhold Publishing Company, New York City, 1949, p 131.
Since a group of inmates will always be either in quaran-tine, hospitalized or otherwise restricted to their housing
unit, the auditorium would have to provide seating for only
85% of the normal population and should be designed for both motion pictures and the occasional presentation of inmate
skits.
A breakdown of the Ohio inmate population by religion shows
the following relationship as average,
Protestant . . .
64/
Catholia . . . . . . . . 27%
Other Religions . . . . 9% (Largest group 3%)
On this basis it is proposed that an undenominational chapel
be provided with a capacity of 50%. This would allow for
some fluctuation in the size of the religious groups. On major religious holidays, such as Easter and Christmas, two Protestant services could be held.
Approximate Space Requirements in square feet Library Auditorium, Auditorium proper Projection Booth
Dressing Rooms, 2 required
Storage 3,750 6,400
1,600
200 300 200 8,700 Chapel and Chaplains OfficesChapel
3,750
Chaplains' Offices, 3 required 500
4,250 Commi ssary Commissary Stores Commissary Office 400 200 125 Barber Shop
Medical Facilities
According to the United States Bureau of Prisons, medical facilitiesi should consist of an outpatient department or
clinic designed to handle 10% to 20% of the Center's inmate
population, plus an inpatient department with a capacity of 3% to 5% of the total inmates,
Since surgical cases will be transferred to the Ohio
Pert-tentiary, an inpatient department with a capacity of 3%
of the population should be sufficient, On this basis,
a 25-bed hospital would be quite adequate. Should an emergency arise where the bed capacity of the hospital
unit would be inadequate to handle all cases, a housing unit could be temporarily diverted to medical use.
The outpatient department, on the other hand, should probably be designed to handle closer to 20% of the inmate population because of the additional examination work inherent In this
type of institution.
The medical facilities should be located reasonably near the receiving-transfer unit and the housing units.
1-Medical program requirements and approximate space alloca-tions are based on the recommendaalloca-tions made, and typical layouts shown, in the Handbook of Correctional Institution
Design and Construction, United States. Bureau of Prisons,
Medical Facilities
Approximate Space Requirements
Clinic in square feet
Waiting Room 550
General Examincetion and Treatment Room 400
Physiotherapy Room 300
Hydrotherapy Room 300
Inmate Toilet, nenr Waiting Room 100
Eye, Ear, Node, and Throat Room 300 Assistant Medical Officer's and 300
Psychologist's Office
X-Ray Laboratory with Darkroom 450
Pharmacy 250
Clinical Laboratory 250
Medical Technical Assistant's Office 175
Clerical and Record Room 300
Chief Medical Officer's Office 250
Dental Clinic (3 rooms) 600
Office, Operating Room and Laboratory
Staff Toilet 50
Corridors, stairways and so forth 1,125
5,700
Medical Stores 750
Medical Facilities
Approximate Space Requirements
Inpatient Department in square feet
Sick Rooms, 22 required 2,200
Restraint Rooms, 3 required 300
Bathroom (showers, sitz bath, continuous 200
flow tub)
Diet Kitchen-Pantry 250
Doctor's Office 200
Female Wursest Room 200
Nurses Station, with lavatory 100
Utility Room 200
Linen Storage 175
Corridors, stairways and so forth 955
Building a twenty-foot solid masonry or reinforced concrete wall around a correctional institution is both extremely expensive and psychologically undesirable. Some wire fence arrangement would probably be just as effective from a
security standpoint and yet would not make the inmate feel so definitely shut off from the rest of humanity.
For a Classification Reception Center with a capacity of approximately 375 inmates, the American Prison Association recommends the following minimum custodial staffit
Chief Custodial Officer . &. . *. . . 1
Assistant Custodial Officers . . . . 4
Custodial Officers . . . 30
On thtis basis the custodial staff of a Center with a
capacity of 750 inmates would total not less than 70
officers. The exact number of custodial officers required
would, of course, depend largely on the physical design of the Center.
Handbook on Classificatioh in Correctional Institutions, American Prison Association, Now York, 1947, p 26.
Approximate Space
Requirements
Al __ -in square feet
Outside Security Perimeter
Central Control Room 450
Arsenal (adjacent to Control Room) 120
Key Room (adjacent to Control Room) 80
Guards' Lounge, with toilet 600
Guards' Looker Room, with showers 700
Guards' Exercise Room 1,500
Guardst Pistol Range' (141 x 100') 1, 400
Guards' Bowling Alleys2 (2 lines) 1,080
Inside Security Perimeter
Chief Custodial Officer's Office 200
Assistant Custodial Officers' Office 400
Secretaryls Office 150
Corridors, toilets, storage and so forth 2,570
9 ,250
Ramsey, C. G., and Sleeper, H. R., Architectural Graphic
Standards, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 8rd Edition
19p41, p 257.
Secrit
ApproximAte Space
Requirements
in
squa-re
footPerimeter
eOnce1
Double wire fence, inside 'ence 12 feet high
and outside fence 8 feet high topped with
barbed wire.
SGcurity Traps for pereonnel and vehicles as requiredo
Inspectoscopos and tear gas equipment should be provided where necesary.
GuRrd Towers, as required by design,
Handbook of Correctional Institution Design and Construcw
tion, United States Bureau of Prisons, Washington, 1949,
AdJunct Facilities
It can be argued that the warehouse facilities should be located outside the security perimeter so that the routing of supplies through a security trap or sally port into the Center proper can be more easily controlled. On the other
hand, such warehouse units as the food warehouse would
probably function more effectively if located near the kitchen.
Since the supply needs of such a Center will not be nearly as great as those of an average correctional institution with large industrial shops, it probably would be more feasible to locate the warehouses in a fence.d-off area within the security perimeter, so that the same sally port or security trap can serve the warehouses, the shops, the receiving-transfer wing and the hospital emergency entrance.
The United States Bureau of Prisons recommends the following space allocations. These space allocations include corridors,
toilets and so forth.
Laundry . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 square feet per man
Maintenance Shops . . . 15 square feet per man
Storehouse . . . 38 square feet per man
Garage and Fire Station . . . . 7.5 square feet per man
Handbook of Correctional Institution Design and Construc-tion, United States Bureau of Prisonsp Washington, 1949,
Since the power plant will not depend on inmate help for its operation, the plant can be located outside the security perimeter. Coal could easily be brought in by railroad,
and no security traps would be required. The power plant should be designed so that it can be expanded at a future date to supply the proposed new Ohio Penitentiary. Since the design of the power plant is a problem in itself, only the location of the plant is indicated on the site plan.
Water will be supplied from the Columbus city water system while sewage disposal will be taken care of by a septic
tank system located outside the security enclosure and near the service road. The problems of water supply and sewage disposal are treated in more detail in the section on site selection.
Adjunct Facilities
Warehouse Facilities
Receiving and Shipping General Warehouse
Food Warehouse
Receiving Area
General Stores Area
Storekeeper's Room
Refrigerated Stores
Holdover Room (for late deliveries) Heated Stores (for flour and cereal) Sally Port between warehouse and
kitchen - acts as secure
hold-ing room.
MaintenanceShos
Laundry
Clean Clothes Hold Room
Office (locate for maximum supervision) Laundry Room
Sterilizing Mending Sorting
Garage and Fire Station Power Plant
Sewage Disposal System
Approximate Space Requirements in square feet 28,500 11,250 9,000 5,525
Site Selection
General Site Considerations
There are a number of rather obvious but, nevertheless,
Important general conditions which should be given consider-ation in the selection of the site. These may be itemized as follows.
(1) Location where fog is prevalent should be avoided.
(2) Accessibility to a good highway is necessary.
(3) An ample supply of good water must be provided.
(4) Size of plot should be adequate.
(5) Railroad facilities should be available, especially
if the power plant is a coal-burning unit.i
(6) Land suitable for limited farming is preferred.
Proximity to an Urban Center
It is generally agreed that such a correctional institution should be located in neither a congested urban center nor a remote area. Locating the Classification Reception Center near an urban center, however, affords certain advantages.
(a) The staff can live in town.
(b) Less difficulty will be encountered in building up and
maintaining a well-trained staff.
(c) Visitors will have less trouble reaching the Center. (d) Storage space requirements can be reduced.
(e) Water and power can generally be purchased inexpensively.
Urban Centers Considered
A study of the state maps, showing location of other state
correctional institutions, court commitments by county, principal highways and main railroad lines, indicates that the Classification Reception Center should be located either
near Columbus or Marion. The arguments applicable to each
site are presented below.
(a) Marion Location
(1) Marion, site of the Marion Training School now under construction, is about equidistant from all
other state correctional institutions that would be served by the Center.
(2) Marion is approximately the central point on the basis of court commitments by county.
(3) Highway connections to Marion are good.
(4) Transfer to the Marion Training School would be
simplified.
(5) The center could be located near the Marion
Train-ing School for services.
(6) Rail connections with most of' the eastern and
southern portions of the state, however, are not