Vacationers who use the new rustic cabins at the Waterloo and Pinckney state recreation areas in Michigan will owe thanks to prisoners at the Saginaw Correctional Facility, reports the Associated Press. Inmates at the prison are building nine two-bedroom cabins for the state Department of Natural Resources. They recently finished two rustic cabins that the state shipped for use at the parks in Waterloo and Pinckney. Prison spokesman Edward G. Rosek said the project is good for the state, the prisoners and the public.
“The DNR gets the cabins at a price they couldn’t get otherwise, the prisoners get the educational experience, and the citizens get the cabins at a reduced rate,” he said. The cabins cost $11,000 each. Participating prisoners took classes to prepare for the cabin building project, which started last summer. Inmates spent about six months learning woodworking, math and tool identification skills, Rosek said. The project “teaches them a trade for their post-incarceration lives,” he said. “When it’s all done, they can know they actually built everything.”
Link: http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080124/METRO/801240314/1409/METRO