Lawmakers hear history, costs and wildlife concerns as Windsor prison property’s future is debated

Members of the House Corrections & Institutions Committee heard testimony April 24 on options for the former Southeast State Correctional Facility near Windsor, focusing on competing proposals to redevelop some parcels while conserving the adjoining Windsor Grasslands Wildlife Management Area.

The committee was given a timeline of past studies, a summary of current maintenance costs and a Fish and Wildlife presentation stressing the site'specific conservation issues that officials say would constrain large-scale housing near the WMA.

The property has about 945 acres associated with the former prison campus; roughly 826 acres were transferred to the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department in an executive action in 2017, and the state retained about 118 acres around the fenced facility, testimony and maps showed. Wanda Manoli, commissioner of Buildings and General Services, told the committee the retained parcel continues to cost the state to keep in a minimal "mothballed" condition. "We estimated that it's about $250,000 to $300,000 a year to keep it in the mothball condition, which now has been well over $2,000,000 roughly," Manoli said.

John Austin, director of the Wildlife Division at the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, and Chris Bernier, the department's wildlife biologist for the Springfield district, described the Windsor Grasslands WMA as a heavily used and ecologically diverse public land. Bernier said the WMA has recorded more than 120 bird species and about 25 species identified as species of greatest conservation need. "This is a hotspot," Bernier said. "It is a beautiful place, just stunning."

Fish and Wildlife officials told the committee they support limited, carefully scaled development and want to retain or acquire buffer acreage immediately outside the high fence to protect grassland-bird habitat and to reduce the risk that residential neighbors would increase recreational pressure, introduce pets or otherwise degrade hunting and birding uses. Bernier said invasive plants are a major management problem and a nearby seed source would threaten years of work: "All it takes is one seed source on a budding land to reset the clock," he said, citing poison parsnip and knotweed among pests the department fights with targeted mowing, hand pulling and spot herbicide treatments.

Committee members were shown maps and photographs prepared in recent reports, including a local planning report by Bell Design Studios (2023) and a 2021 Act 50 report led by Thomas Kennedy of the Mount Ascutney Regional Commission. Manoli said BGS has repeatedly studied reuse options, including assessments in 2002, 2015 and 2018. Agency staff also reported hazardous-building sampling done in 2022 that produced an early estimate of about $5 million for lead and asbestos abatement across the complex; Manoli cautioned the figure likely has risen since that sampling.

Committee members and witnesses discussed an example development concept presented to the legislature last year that envisioned roughly 30 acres of residential development, roughly 50 apartment units and about 60 single-family homes. Fish and Wildlife staff said that mix could mean roughly 200'300 additional residents near the WMA and described that scale as likely incompatible with the department'managed lands without significant buffering and strict use controls. "That level of residential development in the doughnut hole of a wildlife management area was alarming to me," Bernier said.

Other practical constraints raised by BGS staff included steep topography on parts of the retained parcel, limits imposed by wetlands and deer yards, aging buildings that would need demolition or substantial renovation, and the cost of removing perimeter fencing and decommissioning infrastructure. Committee members also noted state program needs for land in future years and the higher cost and difficulty of purchasing private land when state agencies need sites for services.

No formal proposal or sale was pending at the hearing; witnesses described the session as background briefing. Committee members asked the agencies for additional visuals, local engagement and a field visit. Several legislators said they want a site visit before taking policy or budget steps.

The committee heard that any future transaction would follow normal state disposal rules, including public advertising and price negotiations that would reflect known contamination or demolition costs. Manoli said prior attempts to authorize demolition and a sale did not advance through conference committee last year, and she urged lawmakers to weigh state land needs against local housing and conservation interests.

The committee scheduled follow-up briefings and planned a field trip to the site so members could view the terrain, buildings and proximity to the WMA before acting.