Mount Eden Prisons

Mount Eden Prisons consists of two separate facilities in the Auckland, New Zealand suburb of Mount Eden—the Mount Eden Prison and the Mount Eden Corrections Facility.

The historic prison has housed prisoners since 1888 and its design and functionality are outdated and the deteriorating condition of the buildings makes it difficult to keep prisoners securely and humanely contained. In 2008 a decision was made to redevelop the site and create a single integrated prison called the Mount Eden Corrections Facility. The Department of Corrections says that when the new facility is fully operational, the historic prison will be emptied and "mothballed" in case extra prison capacity is required in future.

The original Mount Eden prison was a military built in 1856. It became Auckland's main prison when the old city gaol on the corner of Queen and Victoria Streets was demolished in 1865. The stone wall and the foundations were completed in 1872, the building proper was commenced in 1882 and finished in 1917.

Intended to house 220 prisoners, it was designed by Pierre Finch Martineau Burrows and resembles Dartmoor Prison in England. Its design was based on prevailing thinking at the time that such facilities should be unpleasant places to be dreaded and consisted of a radial design with wings radiating from the centre like the spokes of a wheel. This allowed for control from the centre and "a new mode of obtaining power of mind over mind", an application of the panopticon prison design theories of Jeremy Bentham.

The prison has a colourful history. Prisoners were executed there and it was the site of New Zealand's last execution, in 1957 when Walter James Bolton was hanged for poisoning his wife Beatrice. There were few escapes but a song was written about one famous escaper, George Wilder. In 1963, he escaped and was free for 172 days, during which time he travelled 2,610 kilometres (1,620 mi) and committed 40 crimes. Pat Boone's song 'Speedy Gonzales' was rewritten by the Howard Morrison Quartet and became "George The Wilder Colonial Boy".

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