Soon, Elmore Correctional Facility will undergo bathroom renovations, which will lead to displacing inmates to Draper Correctional Facility during the construction period.
Inmates from one of the six dorms will be transferred to Draper at a time while renovations are taking place. Elmore currently houses around 1,100 inmates, so there are nearly 200 men in each dorm.
Draper, built in 1939, was originally closed in late 2017 since it was no longer suitable to house inmates due to its age and the neglect the facility faced. It is the oldest correctional facility in the state.
Parts of Draper were renovated and reopened during the pandemic in 2020 to be used as quarantine facilities for inmates exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19, referred to as the Draper Quarantine Intake Facility. Alabama Department of Corrections says that utilizing these dorms in 2020 presented no issues.
In 2020, inmates had access to medical and mental health care, telephones, a law library, mail services and showers while at the Draper Quarantine Intake Facility. Visitation will continue while at this facility as well.
Now, the Draper Quarantine Intake Facility has been renamed the Elmore Annex.
Many of the men in Elmore are enrolled in vocational classes at the J. F. Ingram Technical College, but the displacement from renovations is not expected to affect their attendance.
