The Medium Security Institution, commonly called the City Workhouse, as seen on Tuesday, April 7, 2015. Photo by Roberto Rodriguez
Inmates inside the ºüÀêÊÓƵ medium security jail known as the workhouse respond to protesters outside on Friday, July 21, 2017, as about 150 gather to call attention to inhumane conditions at the facility because of the lack of no air conditioning. Photo by Christian Gooden, cgooden@Post-dispatch.com
ST. LOUIS — A water pipe burst open on Friday at the city's medium security jail, also known as the workhouse.
Mayor Tishaura O. Jones' office reported around 4 p.m. that city officials were assessing the damage at the facility, which has been empty of detainees since May.
Jones fulfilled a campaign promise a few months after her inauguration by closing the workhouse in June 2021 because of what was deemed inhumane conditions, also asserted by activists and inmates.
Some detainees were moved back to the workhouse less than two months later after an inmate disturbance at the main jail downtown. After some renovations at the main jail were completed, the workhouse was emptied of prisoners again.
Such plans would contradict a panel of community organizers and activists Mayor Tishaura O. Jones commissioned to study the issue last year.
ºüÀêÊÓƵ Alderman Joe Vaccaro, center back, walks with other aldermen towards the front gate of Medium Security Institution, the city jail commonly known as the workhouse, for a tour on Wednesday, May 12, 2021. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
Ariel Gordon, 17, a senior at Metro High School, addresses a crowd of people gathered for a protest on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019 outside ºüÀêÊÓƵ City Hall where organizers called for closing the Workhouse jail in ºüÀêÊÓƵ and taking the budget savings from closing the jail and investing it in other programs the protesters feel will improve the community. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
Inmates inside the ºüÀêÊÓƵ medium security jail known as the workhouse respond to protesters outside on Friday, July 21, 2017, as about 150 gather to call attention to inhumane conditions at the facility because of the lack of no air conditioning. Photo by Christian Gooden, cgooden@Post-dispatch.com
ºüÀêÊÓƵ police attempt to calm an agitated bunch of protesters outside the ºüÀêÊÓƵ medium security jail known as the workhouse on Friday, July 21, 2017, as about 150 gather to call attention to inhumane conditions at the facility because of the lack of air conditioning. Photo by Christian Gooden, cgooden@Post-dispatch.com
A protester stands outside an exterior fence at the ºüÀêÊÓƵ medium security jail known as the workhouse on Friday, July 21, 2017, as about 150 people gathered to call attention to inhumane conditions at the facility because of the lack of air conditioning. Photo by Christian Gooden, cgooden@Post-dispatch.com
Margaret Sherer of University City protests outside the ºüÀêÊÓƵ medium security jail known as the City Workhouse on Friday, July 21, 2017, as about 150 gathered to call attention to inhumane conditions at the facility because of the lack of air conditioning. Photo by Christian Gooden, cgooden@Post-dispatch.com
A protester celebrates reaching the other side of one of the exterior fences at the ºüÀêÊÓƵ medium security jail known as the workhouse on Friday, July 21, 2017, as about 150 gather to call attention to what they see as inhumane conditions at the facility because of the lack of air conditioning. Photo by Christian Gooden, cgooden@Post-dispatch.com