Westmoreland County prison kitchen to close for 2 months
Westmoreland County Prison officials are preparing for the long-awaited closure of the prison’s kitchen, which is getting new flooring.
Officials will meet today with representatives from Nutrition Inc., the jail’s food provider, to come up with a plan for the two-month closure.
Formulating a plan to feed the average 650 inmates who are housed daily at the facility won’t be easy, officials said.
“We’re hoping it won’t take the full two months,” said Warden John Walton. “But we’re planning on it.”
In addition, representatives from juvenile detention also attended because the adult facility prepares meals for juvenile offenders at the adjacent Juvenile Services Center.
The kitchen’s original tile floor was installed in 1993, when the jail was built. A complete replacement is planned.
The kitchen will close on Jan. 13.
Originally, the project was planned for earlier in the fall, so it wouldn’t disrupt Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday meals for inmates.
In other business, the prison is getting ready for two holiday projects – Wrapped in Love and Dad’s Matter.
Wrapped in Love provides 250 Christmas presents to children of incarcerated parents on Christmas morning. Dad’s Matter is a program where Hallmark recordable books are acquired, so that inmates can record themselves reading a story to their children. The books are presented to children at Christmas.
The programs are executed by volunteers and overseen by the prison’s chaplain.