Abandonment / Prisons Today

Abandonment, also, Prisons Today. . , Abandonment , View from Eastern State's center guard tower, c. 1987. Photo: courtesy of David Cornelius., The last State prisoners leave Eastern State Penitentiary, January 1970. Photo: courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA., Proposal to transform Eastern State Penitentiary into a shopping mall, late 1980s. There were several reuse proposals in the 1980s, including proposed condominiums and houses. None were realized. Image: courtesy of Breslin Realty., Prisons Today , Number of People in Pennsylvania Prisons , Pennsylvania's population has grown by just 7% since Eastern State closed in 1970. The number of people in prison, however, has grown by 770%., The expense has also increased. In today's dollars, the prison system in 1970 cost $185 million. Today it costs as Pennsylvanians nearly $2 billion each year., Pennsylvania is only slightly above average. Nationwide, the prison population has grown by 670% since 1970., How does the United States compare? , The United States imprisons more of its population than any other nation., The American system is also the most expensive in the world. It costs Americans $74 billion every year.