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BLUFFDALE — Bluffdale residents are not afraid of sirens blaring from the Utah State Prison across the street in Draper.
"When I was a child, you'd hear that prison siren go off maybe two or three times," said Heber Barlow, vice president of Utah Mechanical Contractors.
"I haven't heard it for 20 or 25 years," he said.
All residents can hear is the "ka-ching" of cash registers in their heads as the Legislature's Prison Relocation Commission considers a recommendation for where a new prison should be built.
"All around it — east, west, north, south — the value will go up for property owners," said Brent Ramey, vice president of Victig Background Screening.
Beth Burke, who lives in the Springview Farms neighborhood, wanted the prison gone "yesterday."
But there's a lot of doublespeak in Bluffdale, right across the border from Draper and the state prison. Burke says she feels safer with it so close to her home and family.
"If the prisoners get out, they're going to go away from the prison as far as they possibly can," she said.
She added, her kids have learned from it.
"They ask me, 'What are those people in there for? Why are they outside? Why are they behind a cage? What are they doing?' I say, 'They made bad choices.'"
The State Prison has been entertaining to neighbor Jess Roberts.
"Over at the entrance, you can see people yanked out of their car, you can see people on the ground," said Roberts. "It's super fun."
I don't know if I'd view them as a good neighbor or a bad neighbor. They've kind have always been the neighbor you don't get to know.
–Matt Visser
CEO and President Matt Visser at Victig Background Screening even dines at the prison restaurant, the "Serving Time Cafe."
"I don't know if I'd view them as a good neighbor or a bad neighbor," Visser said. "They've kind have always been the neighbor you don't get to know."
Visser and Ramey both said moving the prison won't help or harm the bottom line. And it doesn't scare customers.
But they would prefer if the prison went somewhere else.
"We can build now, knowing the value," Ramey said. "And we'll be in a better position as a business later on."
Resident Corrine Dredge calls the prison site prime real estate.
"It's right in between both valleys," Dredge said. "And if they can move to somewhere that's not so central, we can fill that place up with homes.
"It would be nice to have a grocery store close by," she said.
Barlow has a message for people near the four relocation sites: don't fear having a prison nearby. It has been an ideal neighbor.
Plus, "it could provide jobs for a town that's in a rural setting, where they're looking for something like that," Barlow said.
But with the prison gone, Burke says Bluffdale can't lose.
"It'll bring more jobs, more money, and make the town better," Burke said. "So, I think it's a no-brainer."
