I just read about the USA and their prison problems and first was quite flashed when I noticed that the State of New York is hoping to sell its old prisons, before I entirely thought about it…
As the New York Times explains in their New York Has Some Prisons to Sell You article (which by the way reads like a property description), the ideal buyer is someone who craves space to spread out, and who does not mind a property that has had thousands of guests over the years, what made my day because including me I know several others who could use such huge urban places to transform them into architectural research centers (as BLDGBLOG describes), to create impressing exhibition spaces, urban art centers, youth clubs, etc.
One property, in the Hudson Valley, includes a 16-car garage, a piggery and hundreds of yards of lake frontage. Another offers 69 acres of waterfront land on the west shore of Staten Island, complete with a two-story gymnasium, a baseball diamond and an open-air pavilion. Those seeking seclusion have an option, too: 20 acres adjoining state forest land in rural Schoharie County, perfect for hunting, trapping and fishing. The property comes with its own wastewater- and sewage-treatment plants, as well as a chapel and a carpentry shop. (Thomas Kaplan, NYT)
I can’t understand why the state doesn’t use its property for social or cultural establishments, but perhaps we should pool together some money via kickstarter to buy our own prison complex and redevelop it on our own. Who’s in?