History
On March 6, 1996, the Indiana Prison Site Selection Committee announced that the downsized Grissom Air Force Base would be the site for the state’s newest prison. The committee had wanted to ensure that the prison was erected in an area that was not in opposition to a prison. The Miami community had promoted their county through a yellow ribbon campaign for the new prison site because such a facility would provide needed local jobs that had been lost when the air force base, the county's largest employer, downsized.
Construction of Phase I began in August 1997 and was ready for the first inmates to arrive in May 1999. John VanNatta, the first superintendent of Miami Correctional Facility, arrived with the first wave of prisoners. He had previously served as the superintendent of the Atterbury Correctional Facility for ten years. Construction of Phase II of the facility began in 1999 and opened to inmates in October 2001. Superintendent VanNatta was called up in January 2003 from Indiana’s reserve to serve as warden of Guantanamo Bay Prison. Stanley Knight filled in for VanNatta during his absence. Walter Martin assumed the post in June 2006 when VanNatta took a job with the federal government. The current Superintendent as of September 2009 is Mark Sevier.
Read more about this topic: Miami Correctional Facility
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