An early July storm that raced across the Midwest is responsible for more than $375,000 in damage to the Dixon Correctional Center.
Officials are replacing roofs on numerous buildings as well as installing electrical components and other machinery broken when high winds tore into the facility.
No prisoners were injured during the brief but powerful storm, but the 76 inmates of the prison’s psychiatric unit were transferred to Pontiac Correctional Center.
Stacey Solano, spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections, said the inmates are being housed in isolation in single-unit cells, where they will remain until work on the Dixon unit is finished.
Officials hope to have the inmates back at Dixon within the next few weeks.
Nine buildings in the prison complex sustained damage, according to state records. The state is paying $180,000 to repair damaged roofs, and an Elmhurst company is being paid $56,000 for emergency generators to supply power. A massive garbage disposal is being replaced at a cost of $35,000.
Other costs include transportation for inmates to Pontiac and overtime hours paid to prison employees who helped assess and clean up the damage.