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FDCF marks 25 years

Former warden recalls remarkable start

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
John Thalacker, who was the first warden of the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility, speaks Wednesday at an event marking the 25th anniversary of the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility. Thalacker was named the warden in October 1997, while the prison was still under construction. He served in that role until he retired in January 2002.

The newest state prison opened 25 years ago in what was once a field on the west side of Fort Dodge.

Fort Dodge Correctional Facility employees and retired staff members came together Wednesday in the medium security prison’s gymnasium to commemorate that milestone.

“What this staff did as a startup is remarkable,” said John Thalacker, who was the first warden of the prison.

Thalacker, who was the warden from October 1997 to January 2002, said when the prison opened, 85 percent of its staff members were in jobs they had never held before.

He added that 75 percent of the employees had never seen an inmate before.

Thalacker said the staff members are important to the history of the institution.

That history is always evolving, according to Jeff Cook, a correctional counselor who is one of the original employees of the prison.

“Corrections is not a race,” he said. “There is no finish line. There is no checkered flag. There is always work to be done.”

Dennis Plautz, the chief executive officer of the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance, said the relationship between the community and the state Department of Corrections began 28 years ago. At that time, the state was planning to build two new medium security prisons to deal with a surging inmate population.

He recalled that the state sought proposals from communities willing to have a prison. During the first proposal process, Fort Dodge finished one point behind Newton, he said. Newton became the site of the first new prison.

“We didn’t quit,” Plautz saId. “We stayed with it and made a better application.”

“We were innovative and creative,” he added.

He said Fort Dodge’s successful proposal included a new road, a 20,000 square foot industries building, fiber optic lines and a prison ministry called the Church of the Damascus Road. The proposal, he said, was designed to reduce costs for the state while reducing recidivism by inmates.

“I know that we have received nothing but positives about this facility for over 25 years,” Plautz said.

The prison at 1550 L St. opened on April 21, 1998, when the first 21 inmates arrived in a convoy of three Department of Corrections vans.

The first people to spend the night in the prison were not convicts, however. On March 28, 1998, 410 people had a giant sleepover in the yet to open facility. Dubbed 40 Winks in the Clink, it was a fundraiser for the Church of the Damascus Road.The event included tours, dinner, a panel discussion featuring corrections officials and a former inmate, and a mock trial.

The state Board of Corrections voted 6-1 on March 7, 1995, to build a prison in Fort Dodge. Construction began in August 1996.

Almost as soon as the initial prison construction was finished, planning began for a building at the west end of the compound that would include two more cellhouses. That building was completed in 2000.

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