Reported by Bill Kelly STATEWIDE Correspondent
 
It was something of a stretch to call the ceremony last December a groundbreaking for the new prison, after all the dignitaries on hand had to dodge the earth-moving equipment to find a parking place. The reception table featured frosted white cake and souvenir handcuffs. The smiles could not have been more genuine.
[Harold Clarke, Dir. Dept. of Corrections] "This was not given to southeast Nebraska. You earned it. Something you all should be very proud of. "
What Tecumseh earned was the state's newest prison. The ceremonial turning of the spayed was also a victory celebration for the town that had won the most important economic development contest Nebraska has seen in years. 900-plus prisoners will bring 430 new jobs to town from guards to cooks to teachers. Good-paying jobs in a town that just a couple of years ago was hurting badly. Community leaders like Steve Johnson had worked with the Department of Corrections to make this project happen. Now there is one thing that is certain-- Tecumseh will change.
[Clarke] "We are pleased to say that these are going to be changes for the better, opportunities that will extend outside of the confines of the Corrections Institution."
Tecumseh had been on the ropes. The population of all of Johnson County had been steadily dropping for years. In a state with an enviable unemployment rate, the number of jobless here were higher than average. One of the town's mainstay industries, Campbell Soup's chicken processing plant, had shut down taking dozens of jobs with it.
[Steve Wagner, City Clerk] "We had problems before when Campbell Soup shut down. We had some real problems then that we were addressing that were not favorable and it's not a good situation to be trying to work through. These are more pleasant problems. This wipes them out."
One evening recently at city hall, the problems facing City Clerk Steve Wagner and the Tecumseh City Council are challenges of a community that is growing.
All right. Number 9, public hearing for construction of wastewater and water system improvements.
The council reviewed plans for a new water tower, a new sewage lift station, and new sewer lines. $1.3 million in major construction all to accommodate their new neighbor.
Up here, this is the prison site and what we're talking about is a sewer line that comes down.
Just a year ago the town might have considered just one of these major improvements in a single year much less during a single meeting.
Any impacts that come from this are going to be positive. For the most part -- we're going to have to get rid of sewage somewhere.
[Wagner] "It's a busy time for everybody right now. After it's open we may see some growth in the area of around 100 people a year for probably three to four years, five years and maybe even longer. "
Tecumseh got what it wished for times two. First the Campbell's chicken plant was bought and reopened by another poultry processor, MBA The company is already talking about expanding the work force. Now comes the new prison. Even if there is an occasional sense of oh, my gosh, what have we gotten ourselves into, over all the mood is upbeat, the emphasis on the promise more than the problems.
[Tom Rother] "I think it's outstanding. I think it's one of the greatest things that has ever happened probably to Tecumseh proper."
Tom Rother is superintendent of schools.
[Rother] "If you are a stuck in the mud, laissez faire, status quo type of person, this is not the community you want to be in. You need to move somewhere else because this community is going to move and it's going to be a positive move."
The Tecumseh Public Schools may be the most immediate beneficiary of the community's change. Grade schoolers go to class in a 65-year-old Depression Era building that is noticeably overcrowded. The 250 high school students are in a 1960's Era building that could use a little extra space, too. Even though the new prison won't open its metal doors for business until 2001, there are already signs that these overcrowded classrooms will not be able to handle the new wave of students about to crash into Tecumseh.
[Rother] "We have people daily contacting us about the school and about the community that would like to live here."
Plans are underway for a new elementary building. A vote on a bond issue will come later this year. Even if the growth is gradual, it will happen.
[Rother] We have to start planning and that's all the board and I have been trying to do is make the public aware of the fact that we need to do something now and not wait until they come and then do it. We need to do it now.
Is that a tough sell?
[Rother] "Yes, it is. Believe it or not, it's a hard sell. We've got people in the community that think we don't need to build any houses until the people actually come. And it just doesn't work that way."
The new houses are already here. Across a small ravine from the school, a housing development that had sat dormant since the 1980's has suddenly sprung to life. A new road will serve the 80 houses being planned in the first stage. There's room for 200 more. In a town that has been short on rental properties, there's talk of a couple of new small complexes being built in anticipation of an eager new market.
The work doesn't stop now. The work is just beginning.
The president of the Tecumseh Building and Loan, Paul Kaufman, sees the most interest in real estate in town since he took over the business in the 1960's even at his estimates for local growth are a bit more conservative.
[Paul Kaufman] "What is market now? I don't know. But there's going to be a lot of building going on. We're not going to double our population. I think projections are maybe we might, over a period of time, grow 200-300 people."
His deputy, John Murphy, sees some local homeowners ready to gamble a bit on the new prosperous outlook.
[John Murphy] "I think there are a lot of houses that I'm kind of surprised coming up for sale. I don't know if the people are thinking that yeah, I can get enough money -- or I can get enough money that I can afford to build my dream house now."
Just in the past year, property values in Johnson County have seen a shocking jump, over 50% on residential land. About half that much for commercial property. Then there are more for sale signs than usual cropping up at the same time some out-of-town speculators seem to be taking an interest in buying homes to rent out later.
[Murphy] "You are getting people maybe spending at least 50-100% more than what they used to for these houses and the rent rates are about twice of what they were."
Higher rent and land prices are just one sign that there may be a price tag on the new Tecumseh. City officials don't anticipate taxes increasing, but they know that local lenders will have to be diligent to protect the quality of life they have come to like so much in their small town. John Murphy also serves on the local planning board.
[Murphy] "There's a learning process for the City officials to go through and sometimes that gets to be frustrating, I'm sure, to people involved. We want to make sure that we do what is right for both, you know, the developer and the city. You know, you got to look at both sides because you want the development, but at the same time, you know, you can't just give everything away at the expense of the rest of the citizens."
If you wonder how this town will deal with the cultural diversity that a new prison will inevitably bring, Tecumseh doesn't seem too worried. A closer look at the students in the fourth grade will tell you why. There is a sizable population of Laotian and Hispanic families in town already lured by good paying jobs at the poultry plant. And they have been welcome neighbors here for over 10 years.
[Rother]"We're used to it. I think it's been about six years ago that the Omaha World-Herald did a study and at that time, Tecumseh public schools had the largest minority population per capita of any school in the state of Nebraska including Omaha and Lincoln. So yes, we know that type of diversity and we can deal with it, the multi-cultural aspect"
Tecumseh, in fact, all four counties in the state's southeast corner want to preserve the same cooperative process that got them the prison and adapted to planning for their future. That pleases the director of the Department of Corrections.
[Clarke] "It tells me that the people are prepared for it, the people are ready for it, and the people are ready to work with the department to make it happen the way it should happen. "
Before anybody calls Tecumseh a boom town, one local leader wanted to put it all in perspective. Even if the most optimistic estimates are true, if another 500 people move into the town in the next few years, that will bring this town's population all the way up to where it was in 1965.