We were invited to take a tour of the new prison that is under construction west of the airport. The layout map of the prison was on the wall for us to study.
Our branch is the big gold-colored building second from the left on the bottom part of the map. The yellow post-it notes indicate which buildings have chapels.
This is the chapel in our building. It is a lot smaller than the room we meet in now.
It doesn't look like there is any room for an organ or a piano. It doesn't look like there is much room for all the church volunteers either. Right now the prison is limiting us to ten volunteers per visit, so not all of us are able to go every Sunday.
This is an adjacent chapel under construction with the exact same design.
The lieutenant conducting the tour said she does not like the stairs leading up to the lights as a concern with the inmates if one decided to go up behind the wall, so she is going to ask for a design change.
Perhaps we should check behind the wall for hiding inmates when we go into the chapel...
This is an area that has cells on upper and lower levels with a common area. Notice there are no bars. Unbreakable glass is used instead. Also, notice the natural light that is coming in through the windows, making it bright and cheery (...as cheery as it can be in a prison...??!).
This is the control center for this building. There are hundreds of security cameras throughout the entire prison. The metal portholes in the glass can be opened for a gun barrel to be inserted, should the need arise. (That possibility makes me cringe!!)
It is a privilege to be able to go outside. It appears whoever gets this "yard" isn't as blessed as others who actually get to go outside onto a grassy field and who get to enjoy views of something other than concrete and prison walls.
In this corridor, inmates who are in danger of harming themselves while they go through drug detoxification, or those who are mentally unstable, are put in a cell that has only a sink that just trickles water.
Their "bathroom" facility consists of a grate in the corner. Apparently, a toilet can be used to harm oneself. These cells don't even have a metal bunk for a mattress. Across the hall are single-cell showers. We even saw an infamous "padded cell."
This is the common area for the inmates who have medical needs. Behind the half wall are individual bunk areas.
This would be one inmate's personal space with a metal bunk (we saw 4-inch mattresses they will sleep on), a shelf for a television if they have one, a shelf for books and that is it. The highlight of these cubicles is there are outlets for medical equipment and oxygen.
This is a two-man cell with a toilet, a sink and a non-glass mirror. There were eight-man cells. The inmates earn the right to move into one of those with good behavior. The benefit of that cell is they have their own bathroom with a shower included in their cell space.
It was nice seeing beautiful green grass out in the exercise yard and the yard is not penned in with buildings.
There are exercise yards that are adjacent to every building--except maximum security. That building has rock landscaping because those inmates are never allowed outside.
Maximum security was locked for the day and we were unable to go inside to look around there. It's probably a good thing because Glen got a work phone call that he needed to take and it worked out perfect for us to be walking away from that building as he was talking.
It was an interesting tour. We only saw a very small part of the big picture, but we now know a little more about the inner workings of the prison than we did before.
As we were leaving, I noticed the Cache Valley Electric trailer in the row of construction company trailers and I thought of Dad. If he were doing the electrical work there, he could tell me a whole lot more about the prison, I'm sure.
This past Sunday we spoke in one of the two Timpanogos branches, which is the women's facility. Both branches are divided into two parts. We spoke to the first of our groups and then felt horrible that the branch president had neglected to tell us it would be a double session and could we stay for the second session as well.
Glen had to get home to start a zoom call for work and so we had to leave. They had an alternate plan, but we wished we had been able to stay. There were 20 women in attendance.
This is the view driving into the Timpanogos facility with Kennecott Copper Mine visible straight down the road.
We sat in the parking lot waiting for the branch president and I noticed an officer up inside the watch tower. I have often wondered if there really are people up in those towers. We also watched official vehicles driving by one after another making their course around the perimeter of the prison.
It all seems a bit over-the-top to me. After seeing all the protections in place to keep the prisoners inside, I can't believe there is any way for anyone to escape. But, I don't have a criminal-thinking mind, which is why I can't even fathom a legitimate escape could happen.
This business always catches my eye as I see it from the freeway right before the prison exit. Alcatraz Escape Games. Haha!! I always love a catchy business name and this one qualifies.
It ranks up there with the name of the restaurant where the women inmates were allowed to work--Serving Time Cafe. It is now closed down, otherwise, we would definitely go there for date night.
We went to a late lunch with Glen's sister Bonnie and Dave (aka Santa Claus--and proud of it!!). They love going to El Matador and since it is 8 minutes from our house, we are very all right with that arrangement.
Klarissa's sister Jen and her family Jordan, Adelaide, Auggie, Clara, Maggie and Peter are staying with us this week. They are a sweet family. We have loved Jen since the day we met her and Klarissa. They are in town spending time with Jordan's side of the family and just needed a place to sleep.
Let's take a look at the little Jonah Excell t-ball player. He was a natural at swinging and hitting the ball when he was just a toddler. It's fun to see him all decked out in his baseball gear. I hope he is enjoying swinging the bat now as much as he did when he was younger.
Not only is Jonah a baseball player, but he is a good grout cleaner helper as well.
Eli is sporting his new glasses and looking very handsome in them.
Madison lost another front tooth.
Haley has really taken off with her photography. It has been fun to see the posts she puts up. I especially love when she posts photos of her, Ben, Kade and Levi.
We love all our family members and are happy they share parts of their life with us through photos. It makes our day!!
