“Tamms: Forgotten,” The Southern Illinoisan

The residents of Tamms have a hard time agreeing these days on the village's population count. The U.S. Census in 2010 pegged it at 632. But that number included several hundred prisoners held within the sprawling, 220-acre, concrete and concertina wire of Tamms Correctional Center. No one seems to know how many people are left, since the "supermax" prison and work camp closed in January 2013.

Despite hopes of an economic revival when the prison fully opened in 1998, and the "First Place for Economic Development" plaque that hangs at Village Hall, Tamms looks a lot like it has for decades. Old men meet in the morning over coffee at the gas station that doubles as a grocery store. Fliers hang along the counter inside the Butcher Block/Fast Stop. On one, the Second Baptist Church invites all to a week-long revival. On another, a man offers to mow yards or do other manual labor for pay.  

On nice days, others gather across the street on the porch of Bev's Bargain Barn, an eclectic store not much bigger than a large walk-in closet, where one can find a pack of smokes, a prom dress and barbecue sauce under one roof. On one particular sunny afternoon, an older gentleman -- the modern-day village jester -- sat outside teasing any woman who approached about joining his weekly girlfriend rotation.

The shock has worn off in Tamms since former Gov. Pat Quinn announced in his February 2012 budget address that he planned to close 14 state facilities to make ends meet. Three of those facilities were in Southern Illinois: Tamms Correctional Center, the youth detention center in Murphysboro and an adult transition center in Carbondale.  

Today, the prison in Tamms sits empty, essentially nothing more than a parts store for other state facilities. 

But the state continues to spend more than $750,000 a year on the empty prison -- covering utility costs and maintenance, and paying guards to prevent vandalism and to serve as fire watch.

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