County moves to sell parking lot for prison. (Milwaukee County, WI)

Alternate sites surface if deal falls through

A plan to construct a 600-bed prison at North 10th and West State streets in downtown Milwaukee is gaining momentum as County Executive F. Thomas Ament and a group of county supervisors have moved quickly to begin negotiations to sell the 1.7-acre site to the state.

The proposed corrections institution, a parole and probation facility, would be constructed on land that once housed St. Anthony's Hospital. However, if the site is not suitable for the prison because of environmental or other defects, state Rep. Scott Walker, a Wauwatosa Republican, said an alternative site on city-owned property at North 24th Street and West North Avenue is also under consideration.

Preliminary environmental tests at the State Street site indicate there will be no construction …