The old Polk Youth Center has been demolished now, as I discovered driving by it yesterday. There is nothing there but a rusted pile of concrete and steel, yet something still remains.

Few buildings hold more despair than prisons, and youth prisons get a double-dose. I can think of few places more depressing than a youth prison. It is a glaring reminder of the failure of our society. The kids inside must feel incredibly alone. True, violence led many of them there – and I don’t for a moment excuse the crimes they committed – but it makes me wonder how their lives would be different if their families had given them the love and attention so crucial to human development.

If there was any place our so-called justice system needs a focus of rehabilitation, it is in the treatment of young offenders. Youth prisions should offer a firm but fair hand in getting these kids the help they need to get their lives together. They should not be “preschool” for an eventual trip to an adult prison.

The empty shell of the prison always nagged at me as I drove by. The building had as much life in it closed – empty and strewn with litter and graffiti – as it did when it was full of hopelessly lost kids. Either way, emptiness permeated throughout.

The Chinese have a concept of feng shui, where human suffering can imprint itself on the place it occurs. If such a thing exists, the Polk site may never shake its cold, violent past, regardless of the pile of rubble where the prison used to be. No amount of art the Museum puts there can hide the pain that was once incarcerated at Polk Youth Center.

(A few photo galleries of the eerie empty prison can be found here and here.)