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Communities reimagine and repurpose closed prisons

Posted at 1:39 PM, May 18, 2021
and last updated 2021-05-18 16:40:01-04

Between 2011 and 2016, 94 detention facilities closed across the country and now they're being re-purposed.

The facilities closed during that time because of lower crime rates, lack of funding, and poor treatment of prisoners.

Those spaces are now being used for places to house homeless people, educational farms and one facility has even been turned into a movie studio.

"This is going to be like a mini Hollywood, you know, so we're planning on having about, you know, 120,000 square feet of stages," said Broadway Stages Stage Manager Jimmie Pilianci. 

Parts of "Orange is the New Black" and "Oceans Eight" were filmed in re-purposed prisons.

This story was originally published by Eliana Moreno at Newsy.