A forum was held recently in Norristown to discuss the preservation of the former Montgomery County prison, writes Kevin Riordan for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The participants of the forum listened to a panel of experts, including an advocate for penal reform.

Those in favor of preservation say the prison could be repurposed in some way to benefit the community.

They say it could be a way to “acknowledge the history of incarceration.”

Nicole Porter, a senior director at the Sentencing Project in Washington said preserving the landmark is a way to “be part of a national conversation” on penal reform.

Some county and borough officials, however, see it as a relic of racism that should be demolished.

Montgomery County Commissioners chairperson Kenneth E. Lawrence Jr., Commissioner Jamila Winder, and Norristown Borough Council President Thomas Lepera all support demolition.

Lawrence said in a statement back in August that the county “is not prepared to ask taxpayers to spend millions of dollars to preserve a monument to a system of incarceration that disproportionately imprisoned people of color…”

Montgomery County plans to spend just over a million dollars to tear down the prison.

The Norristown council could decide to issue a demolition permit as early as its next meeting on November 8.

Read more about the Norristown forum on the Airy Street prison in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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