A former Altoona Water Authority official this week suggested at a City Council meeting that Altoona should try to persuade the county to consider a tract of industrial land at the corner of 17th Street and Margaret Avenue as a potential site for a new Blair County Prison.

Council members didn’t respond positively to Mike Sinisi, retired AWA staff engineer.

Over the years, Johnstown managed to secure a satellite location for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, an FBI office and a U.S. Postal Service processing center, and Altoona could benefit by aggressively pursuing government operations like the prison, Sinisi said.

The prison in Hollidaysburg is “entirely innocuous,” despite the “stigma” normally associated with jails, said Sinisi, who lives in the borough.

Children play nearby, parades end near it and other activities go on around it without anyone worrying, Sinisi said.

Moreover, the county is “desperate” for a place to build a new facility, after withdrawing a plan to use eminent domain to obtain acreage behind Alto Reste Cemetery that the cemetery hopes will eventually become burial grounds, after significant community opposition to the proposed seizure, Sinisi said.

The site near Boyer Candy in Altoona is zoned light industrial, and there are no nearby houses, Sinisi said.

It’s currently a “wasteland,” he said.

“A new prison on that site would be a vast improvement,” he said.

A prison there would have the look of a school, Sinisi predicted.

Sinisi was still talking when a bell rang to signal expiration of the time allotted for his comment, as a member of the public.

“Your five minutes are up,” Mayor Matt Pacifico said.

Later, council members responded to a reporter’s invitation to say what they thought about Sinisi’s suggestion.

“The (county) commissioners were elected to make (those kinds of) decisions,” said Councilman Ron Beatty. “I think we’ll stay out of it, unless (the commissioners) ask.”

“I’d be open to having the jail in the city if they move the county seat into (Altoona),” Pacifico said, joking.

“I appreciate Mr. Sinisi’s idea, but I’m not particularly interested,” said Councilman Jesse Ickes.

“I’d take a serious look at any potential development proposal for the city,” said Councilman Bruce Kelley. “But I think for the jail, the commissioners wanted it closer to the courthouse.”

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.