Mount Eden Prisons

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Exterior of the old prison section.

Mount Eden Prisons refer to the three New Zealand prisons, located in Lauder Road in the Central Auckland suburb of Mt Eden. The three prisons are:

Mount Eden Prison, capacity 421, medium-security men's prison
Mount Eden Women's Prison, capacity 54, female remand and short-term sentences prison
Auckland Central Remand Prison (ACRP), capacity 381, male remand prison

The three sections are housed in connected, but architecturally strongly dissimilar buildings. A major new redevelopment and expansion was confirmed in 2008.

1 History
- 1.1 Overview
- 1.2 Expansion
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Overview

Detail of the old prison section exterior.

The original prison was a military stockade built in 1856. It became the city's main prison when the old city gaol (corner of Queen and Victoria streets) was demolished in the same year.^[1] The stone wall and the foundations were completed in 1872, the building proper was commenced in 1882 and finished in 1917.

Intended to house 220 prisoners, it was designed by P.F.M Burrows and resembles Dartmoor Prison in England. It consists of a radial design with a number of wings radiating out from the centre like the spokes of a wheel. This allows for control from the centre "from which the outlook may be complete and constant". This is obviously an application of the panopticon prison design theories of Jeremy Bentham. The old prison has been given a 'Category I' classification by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.^[1]^[2] Mount Eden Prison was also the site of New Zealands last execution, with Walter Bolton hanged on 18 February 1957 for murdering his wife Beatrice with poison.^[3]

A song was written, performed and published about a famous escapee from the prison, George Wilder. The first time, 29 January 1963, he was free for 172 days, during which time he travelled 1,620 miles and committed 40 crimes. In 1962, Pat Boone's song 'Speedy Gonzales' became 'George The Wilder Colonial Boy', by the Howard Morrison Quartet.^[4]

There was a major riot at Mt Eden prison on Tuesday and Wednesday, 20 and 21 July 1965. Prisoners rioted for 33 hours after a prison guard caught two prisoners trying to escape. Chaos ensued as prisoners burnt much of the prison, including the prison records. The riot was a sensational event for the pupils and staff of the two neighbouring boys' secondary schools, Auckland Grammar School and St Peter's College.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]

Opened in July 2000, the ACRP part of Mount Eden Prisons was New Zealand's first privately run prison. It was originally managed by Australasian Correctional Management Limited (later called Global Expertise in Outsourcing NZ Ltd), before reverting to the state's Public Prisons Service in July 2005.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Expansion

The Prisons have been the site of several protests. Pictured is a protest which took place in October 2007 over recent police raids.

In June 2007 it was announced that a new six-storey prison building and another four-storey accommodation block would be built on the southern side of the old Mount Eden prison building by 2011. This would increase the total number of beds by 450. The nineteenth-century prison complex would be converted to administrative space, in accordance with its heritage classification.^[3]

The prison redevelopment will also see a new secure gatehouse, a visitor centre and a multi-level carpark added to the structure. Underground tunnels will link the different section. Another change will see the disappearance of barbed wire around the complex, which is to be replaced by secure building design.^[3]

There has been substantial criticism of the proposed height of the new prison building, which at up to 30 m will be visible from the close-by motorway viaduct and also tower over the surrounding area, which unlike the prison zone itself, has a 15 m building height limit. Vocal opponents include the current Mayor of Auckland, John Banks.^[9] On 7 May 2008, the New Zealand Government confirmed the redevelopment of the prison, with building operations set to begin in July 2008.^[10]