HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Governor Ned Lamont announced Saturday that the Willard Correctional Institution in Enfield is now closed. 

Lamont said that the decision to close the institution was due to the significant drop in the incarcerated population. In the last 15 years, the number of people held in Connecticut’s correctional facilities has fallen from 19,894 in 2008 to approximately 10,000 people today. In his original announcement, Lamont also stated that closing the facility would save taxpayers $6.5 million in annual operating costs. 

At its closing Willard housed 260 individuals who had mostly been relocated to the Cybulski Community Reintegration Center in Somers.