Method

METHOD

Inmates jamming in the prison chapel Blind drawing done during visit at Golden Grove Correctional Facility

The new program for Richmond Penitentiary will be a Creative Community Center. The process of finding a new use for Richmond Penitentiary has been divided in two phases:

1. On site registrations, February 2017:

- Registrations of site and close surroundings - Interviews - Mapping of cultural and social activities - Visit to other restoration projects; Fort Christiansvaern Lawaets Family Museum Løvmand´s Slave Schools - Visit to current prison;

Golden Grove Correctional Facility - Observations of local culture

2. Theoretical research

- Archive studies;

History of the site History of prison reforms - Research;

Local economy and social econ omy - Case studies:

Fængslet Horsens Centro Cívico, Palencia

Interviews

The understanding of the site and its environment was partly made talking to a selection of people that would relate to the building and Richmond area in different ways. The selection of interviewees is based on their different connections to the area or the prison ruin. The interviewees differ in age, occupation, status and interests.

The intention of doing interviews was to get an understanding of the history of the site as well as addressing some issues or needs in the local community. This could be the starting point of developing a new use for the site. Questions for the interviews are organized in four groups:

1. Background information on interviewee, 2. Richmond area, 3. Richmond Prison and 4. Future use.

For a further understanding of the building and the history of the site, I contacted the local historian George Tyson as well as two local architects that previously has drawn proposals for the site. Visiting the present correctional facility on St. Croix, I made contacts with the former assistant warden of Richmond Prison, and could get an insight of the site in use around 1960.

To get a deeper understanding of the site, I approached local people familiar to the area. Several of these interviewees addressed the lack of cultural or social activities in the local community as problem resulting. Community centers and basketball fields were some of the previous activities in the area, that the last decades had been moved or totally removed.

Anselmo Jackson, previous resident in Richmond and employee at a soup kitchen in Christiansted shared his concerns on the lack of cultural and social activities:

“Nobody is born homeless. Young people needs what I call “home-training”. They need to be told what is right and wrong, how to take care of themselves and how to be a part of the society. If they don´t get home-training at home and don´t have a place to hang out where other people can tell them what is right, then chances are they might become criminal or homeless.”

The full interviews can be read in appendix 2.

During the past years the close surroundings of the site has undergone some serious changes. In 2015 Ralph deChabert housing project, including more than 30 apartment buildings, and a community center was demolished by the local government. This means the local community has changed from a dense populated area to an empty void close to Christiansted.

The development plans for the area are currently in progress, including suggestions of holiday resorts or middle class housing. In the town plan by Gerville Larsen, Richmond Penitentiary is proposed as a future community center.

There are still two housing projects close to the site - under the alias of Red Brick and Water Gut. These areas are - as on St. Croix in general - facing challenges of a high percentage of unemployment and an increasing crime rate.

80% of people under 30 are unemployed and the same age group are highly represented in the correctional facility of Golden Grove. Facing these challenges close to the site, a conscious development of the area can possibly affect the statistics in a positive direction. Richmond beach has a view to Christiansted town and the Seaplane base

Richmond before 2015

In the first period, when The Virgin Island were under Danish colonial rule, physical punishment was the primary mode of correction. Enslaved and free colored were oftenly punished publicly at the whipping post outside of Christiansvaern fort.

Prisoners were held in dungeons of the forts and heavy sentences were used for minor infringements.

In 1830, Shortly after Peter von Sholten became governor-general, the whipping post was eliminated. Shortly after this, Richmond Penitentiary was built. The erection of the building marks the start of a more modern prison reform, as we know it today. The punishment were still harsh but new reforms stated that punishment should now be less public and prisoners were held in one man cells. (Rezende, 2017)

Richmond Penitentiary were used until the opening of Golden Grove Correctional Facility in 1973.

My Visit to Golden Grove gave an insight in the development of prison buildings, with old cells from 1973 and new cells built around 2000.

Until 1836 Common fort dungeons Low cieling, crowded. No ventilation. Dansih bricks and local stone

1836-1973 Richmond - one man cell Natural ventilation. Danish bricks and local stone

1973 - 2000 Golden Grove - two man cells Natural ventilation. Concrete walls.

2000 - - Golden Grove - one man cell Built for air condition cooling - no air condition used. Poorly ventilated. Concrete walls.

Fængslet Horsens

The former prison in Horsens, Denmark was closed in 2006 and opened as a museum, hostel and café in 2012.

The cells are used as hostel rooms as well as in museum exhibition. Hostel rooms are kept simple and with references to prison cells.

Cultural activities like concerts or small festivals are hosted in the prison garden or common area. These areas are possible to rent for special occations (faengslet.dk, 2017).

Hostel cell in “Fængslet” (faengslet.dk)

Centro Cívico, Palencia

The former prison of Palencia, Spain was in 2011 transformed into a Cultural Civic Center by Exit Architects. The program includes social and cultural activities like art and music classrooms, multi-purpose areas, library with reading rooms (cells) and an auditorium (ArchDaily, 2017).