WELCH — Situated amid a vast field carved atop the mountains at Indian Ridge, the new building shrouded in fog doesn’t look intimidating. It could easily be mistaken — at first — for a new high school or a company’s headquarters.

But then you see the high fence and its razor wire. You walk up to the front door and see the short pillars designed to keep vehicles from crashing through the facade. You pull open the heavy steel front door and wonder if such a thing would be possible.

Welcome to Federal Correction Institution McDowell, the future address of up to 1,152 medium security inmates. Add the 128 minimum security male offenders to be housed at the nearby camp, and the total capacity of FCI McDowell goes up to 1,280 inmates.

It’s a small city unto itself, and it will be offering community tours on Tuesday, Aug. 17 and Wednesday, Aug. 18. Interested parties can arrive any time from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days, said Gene Beasley, the prison’s public information officer.

The Bluefield Daily Telegraph received an early tour Friday. The front door opens not into the actual prison itself, but into the administrative wing. Visitors who come to see inmates wait in an enclosed area while employees wait in an area not too unlike an airport’s waiting area for their turn to go through the remotely operated “sally port” that allows access to the inmate section.

Even on Friday, correctional officers work on finishing touches. Soon after the media arrived, a floor mat with the FCI seal was laid down at the front doors. In the spacious conference room, Warden Kenny Cauley said the prison would start taking inmates this fall.

“We have come a long way since the middle of March,” Cauley said.

 Furniture and most other equipment is ready, and the personnel now in place are working on their routines and procedures. As of Aug. 13, 236 employees had been selected. Of those hires, 174 are now working at the prison; 94 of these employees come from McDowell County and the surrounding area. These people are among the 118 new people hired to staff the prison, according to figures provided by Beasley.

“We’re really proud of where we have gotten in such as short period of time,” Cauley said. “We’re seeing a great work ethic. This is my third activation (of a new prison) and we’re seeing a very high percentage of people with college degrees...a higher percentage than I’ve seen in a long time.”

The word “prison” often conjures the words “prison guard,” but the preferred term is “correctional officer,” said Associate Warden Ty Baxter, who oversees operations. His colleague, Associate Warden Charles Ratledge III, oversees programs.

Nurses, teachers, business administrators, counselors, accountants, case managers and other personnel are needed to operate a prison.

“In my mind, I think we’ve exceeded what most people thought we would do in the hiring area,” Cauley said.

The tour itself started in the administrative building; even there, office doors are made of steel. The mail room — which can be sealed off in case of a biological hazard — is there along with the armory so inmates will not have access to weapons. Even a computer room, which has restricted access, has been designed so authorities can maintain maximum control, said Baxter, who led Friday’s tour.

Down the hall, a training room with thick binders waiting on desks was ready for the class Introduction to Corrections, Phase I.

“Before we put them out there, they get two weeks of training in here,” Baxter explained. They later go to Georgia for another three weeks of training. Except for chaplains and doctors, correctional officers have to qualify with a weapon, too.

In other offices, the prison’s budget is managed along with the prison commissary, which sells hygiene items and other basic products to inmates. However, tasks such as stocking the commissary have to be considered with the prison’s security in mind, said R.L. Taylor, trust fund supervisor. For instance, inmates can’t buy chewing gum because they could use it to jam locks.

“Everything has a new twist when it comes here,” Taylor said.

Even something most people do every day — making a telephone call — is controlled,  Taylor said. Inmates can only call names on an approved list. The phone system automatically informs the call’s recipient that it’s originating from a federal prison, and all calls are monitored. The phone system also has voice activated registration; what’s more, inmates must pay for their calls through an electronic account. Family and friends can send money, but only by an approved route and only with the inmate’s number; the system tracks the sender.

Mail is inspected as well, and so are e-mails. The prison’s e-mail system allows inmates to send e-mails only to approved addresses; what’s more, they don’t get instant access to any replies. Replies are held until they are inspected.

Messages also cannot have any attachments, Ratledge added.

Visitors who go through the sally port into the prison complex must show photo identification such as a driver’s license, and this identification is held there until the visitor leaves. Once through the sally port, visitors enter a yard where inmates come only to perform tasks such as mowing the lawn, and only under supervision.

A lounge resembling an airport terminal has been built for visits with family, but inmates are still supervised, said Capt. Terry Stiller, who works with security. For instance, family members can embrace and kiss at the start and conclusion of a visit; afterwards, they must sit side-by-side. A room has also been set aside for supervised visits with children.

“The main purpose is keeping family ties,” Stiller said of the visitors’ arrangements.

Next comes the Correctional Systems department where inmates are processed into the prison and released from it. Inmates are fingerprinted, photographed and questioned; the purpose is to make sure the right inmate has arrived at the facility, and that the right ones are being released, Baxter said.

The prison pharmacy, where inmates go for their medications — none are kept in the cells — is a Level I health installation. Hospital care is Level IV. One doctor is available now, and there is a dental clinic. There are sick calls four days a week, but inmates can come to the pharmacy on an emergency basis, too.

Next the tour visited the Special Housing Unit (SHU), which can house 96 inmates who, for discipline problems and other reasons, are separated from the main population. Each inmates gets a single cell with a bunk, stainless steel combined toilet and sink, a small desk bolted to the wall, a cabinet and a shower unit with no curtain. Regular cells house two inmates and do not have a shower. Inmates eat in the SHU and exercise there as well.

“Everything is done right here,” Baxter said.

The remaining 768 cells are divided between three housing units. There two inmates share a cell with bunk beds; like the SHU cells, everything is bolted to the floor and walls. Cell doors are open during the day, but inmates whereabouts are regulated and monitored at all times. They have 10 minutes to report to work assignments that are posted on a bulletin board.

One possible destination is the recreation area and the classrooms. Steve Garcia, who supervises recreation, said inmates can participate not only in sports, but also in classes such as art. Teresa Grimes, supervisor of education, said one goal is to encourage the inmates to have a healthy lifestyle. There are instances when inmates literally do not know what to do with free time.

“We’re focusing not only on them being healthy here, but after you release them,” Grimes said. The goal is to build a positive attitude.

One way the prison tries to build positive attitudes is to give inmates new job skills. Perhaps the prison’s biggest employer is the cafeteria, said John Bowling, food administrator. The meals — which cost 90 cents apiece to make — are part of a menu that’s the same for federal institutions throughout the country. Prison personnel can eat the same food for $2 a meal, Baxter added.

Meals, designed for nutrition, can include hamburgers, chicken portions and even a country breakfast with biscuits and gravy, Bowling said.

However, meal time is not a social time. Inmates eat their food, leave immediately and go to their next assignment. However, which cell block is served first depends on how well the hygiene is maintained there, Baxter explained. Inmates in the best block get to eat first.

Every aspect of an inmate’s life is equally regimented. They receive four sets of uniforms, a pair of boots, linens and other items. Prison officials, not the individual inmates, decide what needs to be replaced. Inmates must also adhere to a dress code.

The commissary is regimented, too, R.L. Taylor, trust fund supervisor said. First, inmates must wait outside until they are called. They must fill out a form listing what they want to buy, slide it through a slot in a heavily fortified door — one of three serving the inmates — wait for their purchases, inspect the purchase and then sign for it. Inmates pay from their electronic account; nobody handles any cash.

 Inventory is very carefully monitored; one single inventory might be only $10 off, Taylor added.

“Wal-Mart would kill for our accounting,” he said with a smile. “It’s always within 10 bucks. Very, very controlled, very, very accountable.”

FCI McDowell cost $249 million to construct and is expected to contribute $38 million annually to the local and regional economy through salaries, taxes on salaries, utilities, purchases and other means, according to Federal Bureau of Prisons information. Besides economic benefits, the prison staff hopes to contribute to the community in other ways, Cauley said.

The prison is forming a community relations board including local law enforcement, local government, the media and other entities. It will also, within certain criteria, have inmates work on community projects.

Only minimum security inmates would work outside the prison, but the medium security ones could perform tasks such as building cabinets and other items for the Habitat for Humanity program, Beasley said. The government could not incur expenses on such projects, so outside entities would have to provide materials and supervision, plus transport any minimum security inmates working outside the prison.

“We want to be in a partnership with the community and we’ll work hard to make this happen,” Cauley said.