Montville — The state Department of Correction will close a 254-bed annex building at the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center, in a move that department Commissioner Scott Semple called “tangible proof” of the results of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s criminal reform efforts.

The annex building, built in 1957 before many modern standards of prison design were developed, gradually has been emptied of inmates over the past several months. All of the inmates who had been living in the annex portion of the prison have moved to two other buildings on the grounds located on Route 32.

The decision, which Malloy said reflects a drop in the state’s prison population since its peak in 2008, will mean more than 250 beds will go offline. The closure will save the state about $3 million in annual operating costs, the governor said. The fate of the now-empty building will be up to the Department of Correction to decide.

"Since I took office we have been working to reform our criminal justice system, lowering our crime rate, making our communities safer and reducing the number of people caught up in repeat offenses," Malloy said at a news conference in the annex building Wednesday afternoon.

None of the more than 400 employees at the prison will be laid off, Malloy said, and no prisoners will be released from the prison as a result of the closure. The name of the prison won't be changed, a Department of Correction official said.

The closure represents a drop in the state’s crime rate and incarcerated population, which Malloy said are a result of his administration’s "Second Chance Society" initiative to help offenders become productive members of the community.

"Our reforms are making a difference and the results are clear," he said. The incarcerated population in Connecticut has dropped from 19,438 in 2008 to about 14,500 in January of this year.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, state and federal prison populations have been declining nationwide alongside declining crime rates.

Twenty-nine states shrunk their prison populations between 2014 and 2015, and Connecticut had a 5 percent drop in that year, according to a bureau's 2015 report. Vermont had the biggest decrease by percentage in its prison population, down by 11 percent, while North Dakota had the highest percentage increase of states that grew their prison population, with a 4.5 percent bump.

Between 2013 and 2016, the governor’s office said last year, the violent crime rate in Connecticut dropped by 23 percent, the largest decline of any state in the nation.

Malloy has championed a new facility for offenders age 18-25, a re-integration center at a prison in Enfield and policies that take on the so-called “war on drugs,” mandatory sentences and barriers to employment for ex-offenders.

The decision to close the Radgowski annex comes as Malloy is pushing the state legislature for bail reforms that he says would bring down the population of people who go to jail because they’re unable to afford bail.

"Criminal justice policies in the United States missed the mark for a period of time, and we need to reset those policies," Malloy said Wednesday. "We are seeing not only our prison population drop, but our crime rate drop, as well."

The annex building is the latest of six prison facilities to close in the past decade, among them the men's unit at the Janet S. York Correctional Institution in Niantic last year. In his biennial budget in February, Malloy suggested that closing a state prison and shuttering four housing units at other facilities could mean nearly $24 million in savings over two years.

Corrigan-Radgowski opened in 1957 as the Montville Correctional Center, whose name is still painted above the door. It was built at a time before modern standards for prison design were developed, Malloy said, making it outdated and dangerous in 2017.

“Modern facilities are not design to have narrow hallways and blind corners, for instance,” he said.

The correctional center closed temporarily 1991, opened again in 1997 as part of the Radgowski Correctional Institution, which later merged with the Corrigan Correctional Institution in 2001.

The prison houses both people charged with crimes before their trials and people sentenced to prison, and serves Superior Courts in Danielson, New London, Norwich and Windham.

The state currently operates 15 correctional facilities, including Corrigan-Radgowski.

During Malloy's administration, Connecticut has closed the J.B. Gates Correctional Institution in Niantic, the Bergin Correctional Institution in Mansfield, part of the Bridgeport Correctional Center and most recently, four housing units at the Osborn Correctional Institution in Somers.

m.shanahan@theday.com