Thomaston state prison officially closes its doors

THOMASTON – For the first time in 178 years, Maine State Prison is empty and the front door is locked.

“It’s over,” Warden Jeffrey Merrill said Wednesday. “The Maine State Prison is closed.”

Actually, the name is being shifted to the new $76 million prison in neighboring Warren.

The last of some 450 inmates was moved into the new prison at 3:10 a.m. Wednesday, he said.

At 5:20 a.m., the Thomaston prison was officially closed.

It was a strange feeling to shut the door and end “that whole era,” Merrill said.

The massive move began Sunday and continued around-the-clock until the wee hours Wednesday.

The Maine State Prison at Warren, which is designed to accommodate nearly 1,000 prisoners, had 561 inmates Wednesday. They came primarily from the Thomaston prison, along with a few from other state penal institutions.

“I’ve never seen such a team,” said Merrill in commending the guards and staff, including 60 employees who traveled from prisons around the state to help with the transition.

At the new prison, “the count was good,” he said, meaning that all the prisoners had been accounted for.