In response to the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation’s (DCR) plans to demolish the remaining Rutland Prison Camp buildings, the Rutland Historical Commission (RHC) held a series of community forums in January.

About 14 people attended the January 24 meeting and unanimously opposed demolition as the answer to DCR’s concerns over safety and alleged hate-filled graffiti. RHC suggests public stewardship and seeks alternatives to the DCR plan.

After RHC Chair Peter Pasierb described the challenges facing the site, RHC member Lindsay Maus gave a history of the prison, which was bult in 1903 to house minor offenders. Maus noted that there were no fences around prison nor were there ever any reports of escape attempts.

Maus said inmates farmed 150 of the 914 acres, where they grew potatoes, raised chickens and dairy cows, and sold milk to the City of Worcester. 

Danny Suchocki, a third generation Rutland resident, remembered his father recounting how he played baseball with the prisoners, which demonstrated the open campus of the prison and how accessible the prison - and prisoners - were to town residents. 

In 1907, a tuberculosis hospital was added to the site. However, in 1934, the camp and hospital were abandoned because the land became watershed to protect the newly built Quabbin Reservoir. The root cellar and the remains of a cell block are all that stand silent today, along with stone walls, several foundations, and a cemetery where the prisoners who died while incarcerated are interred.

According to a DCR spokesperson, concerns center around the prison block and root cellar, which represent significant safety hazards. While DCR partnered with the town to install gates in front of the openings to the prison block and root cellar, those gates were vandalized or stolen. DCR proposes to demolish the prison cell block and modify the root cellar to prevent access to its interior.

Suggestions to counter demolition include installing heavy steel gates to deter motor vehicle access. Instead of security cameras, which have been destroyed, install trail cameras high in the trees which blend in with the forest. RHC member Lynn Turcotte said historical markers had been installed but they were also vandalized. A participant suggested “see something, say something” signage with a phone number.

DCR maintains that the graffiti includes significant hate speech. But those in attendance adamantly refuted that claim.

The root cellar. Photo by Lindsay Maus.

“I have never seen anything hateful or offensive,” said Erica Peterson. “It’s just graffiti.”

“There’s anti-DCR graffiti, not hate graffiti,” said another woman.

Peterson and her husband Dave Henshaw had just walked down to the camps before the meeting on the 24th. “I’m down there five days a week,” said Peterson. “There’s no trash, 95 percent of the people respect and enjoy the Prison Camp. Why punish the majority for the actions of a few bad apples?”

Participants acknowledged there is broken glass around the structures and footing can be tricky. However, one person wondered how much it would cost to make the site safer instead of demolishing it. Suggestions going forward included community clean-up and painting days. Peterson said she would approach the artist who often paints in the area to see if he would create a mural or other artwork on the cell block.

State Representative Kimberly Ferguson and State Senator Peter Durant are aware of DCR’s concerns and the pushback by Rutland residents.

“The cells and root cellar which were part of the prison camp are significant in the town’s history and it’s important to try to preserve them,” said Durant. “The Historical Commission is working to create a proposal and wants to work with DCR to protect and maintain the structures. I support their efforts and urge DCR to consider ways to save the structures because once a piece of history is gone, it is gone forever.”

“Representative Ferguson has been supportive of the Town of Rutland and keeping the historic prison camp site open,” said Elizabeth Kazinskas, Ferguson’s district director. Kazinskas said that Ferguson had included monies in the FY22 budget for fencing and site improvements. She said that Ferguson is in contact with Pasierb and town officials and that she has followed up with DCR. “She is awaiting discussion with them and Senator Durant,” said Kazinskas.

According to the DCR spokesman, the agency is in contact with the town to explore alternatives to demolition and is waiting for a response from the town.

The RHC has asked to meet with both the fire and police chiefs to include their concerns and suggestions. In the interim, the RHC asks supporters to sign the on-line petition to take a stand for history, community, and cultural continuity. 

“History is not just a connection to our past,” said Maus, “it’s a connection to our future and future generations. I love taking my kids down to the Prison Camp. I wonder who built that, who lived there, where did they walk and work? Today, when so many people are glued to our screens, take a walk down these trails to come face to face with a unique piece of Rutland’s history. If these pieces are destroyed, it will be a loss of a connection with these people. It will be a loss of connection with each other. And it will be a loss of a sense of gratitude – and wonder - for those who lived there.”

Pasierb said the RHC will collate all the ideas and comments they gather from the community and present their findings to DCR to see if an alternative to demolition is possible. 

For more information, visit the website https://lindsaytmaus.wixsite.com/save-our-structures

To sign the petition, go to https://c.org/wpj6c7d8mc

If you have any questions, email [email protected]