Prisoners churning out chairs for downtown St. John's

You might notice a smattering of brightly-coloured Adirondack chairs in downtown St. John's this summer. While they look professional-grade, the wooden chairs were actually made by inmates at Her Majesty's Penitentiary.

For decades, inmates have made everything from desks to parade floats in the prison carpentry shop.

James Purcell spent the last several weeks making almost a dozen chairs for the downtown. He said he looks forward to working in the sawdust every day.

"It gets me away from all the drama that's up on the range," said Purcell.

"It's something positive in my life. It gives me something to look forward to everyday and it keeps my mind at ease."

Before going to prison a year ago, Purcell was an apprentice in the construction industry.

He said working in the shop lets him keep up his skills as he waits for release.

Open for business

Two to four inmates work in the shop daily, accompanied by a corrections officer.

While they do a lot of prison maintenance work, some of their carpentry projects go to the community.

Downtown St. John's has partnered with HMP for years, often asking for the inmates to make floats for the Christmas parade.

This year, they requested the Adirondack chairs and paid for the materials. The chairs were featured during this summer's outdoor Reel Downtown movie nights, as the front row VIP seating.

Owen Brophy, superintendent of prisons, said if any other organizations or businesses want a woodworking job done, the HMP carpentry shop is open for business.

"It's an opportunity for inmates to engage in activity which takes them off the range, gives them some transferable skills once they go back into the community, and allows them to give back to the community," he said.

"Lets them pay it back a little bit."

'It's something positive'

Beyond the carpentry shop, Brophy said there's other ways prisoners keep busy while in HMP. Some work in the kitchen, others on the grounds; there are also some opportunities for art programs and yoga classes.

Purcell said the inmates would always appreciate more programming. Life in the cell block can get monotonous, he said, other times it's tense. Living in close quarters with dozens of inmates, he welcomes the opportunity to spend several hours each day in the cool, spacious carpentry shop.

"It's something positive. A lot of stuff comes out of this jail and it's always been bad news, so this is something that's a little more positive," he said.

"It would be nice to see a little bit more, but step-by-step."