by David Joseph Meister
The Yard’s Design and Original Purpose
Built in 1974, the Idaho State Correctional Institution (ISCI) — known as the Yard — is Idaho’s oldest operating prison facility. The original housing units had small cells and tiny day rooms, but they were offset by abundant inmate jobs and access to a central Recreation Department community center. The idea was simple: keep people engaged and active, not trapped in tiny living areas.
For years, this balance worked. The Yard’s small living quarters were complemented by plentiful jobs and recreation programs that gave inmates productive ways to spend their days.
Expansion and Overcrowding
In 1997, two large housing units were added, nearly doubling the Yard’s population. Administrators split recreation access into two cohorts, cutting gym time in half. Job opportunities were split too, leaving more inmates idle and locked in their units — a recipe for trouble.
To make up for this, the prison built two softball diamonds and a football field, with a half-mile jogging track around it. A smaller soccer field with a quarter-mile track was also added. Known as the Large and Small Ballfields, these spaces became central to intramural sports and community recreation.
Intramural programs weren’t just about exercise — they encouraged good conduct, built camaraderie, and offered critical time out of the cells.
Shutdown and Neglect
In June 2020, both ballfields were closed due to COVID-19 restrictions and staff shortages. Intramural sports halted. At first, the closure was supposed to be temporary. But when a new administration arrived from Idaho’s maximum-security facility, they brought a “max mentality” with them — lockdown culture, compartmentalization, and refusal to let inmates maintain the grounds.
For four years, the fields were left untouched. Desert weeds took over, gophers burrowed, and the ballfields were destroyed by neglect.
False Hope of Reopening
Finally, in August 2024, after years of inmate outcry, the fields were unlocked. The tracks were still usable, but the fields were dangerous. The Large Ballfield was declared off-limits indefinitely. The Small Ballfield, though open, was riddled with pits and weeds.
The Recreation Department had the equipment and dozens of willing inmate volunteers ready to restore the fields, but administration refused every offer. “Maybe next spring,” they said. Spring 2025 came and went. Nothing.
Taking Matters Into My Own Hands
I’ve been incarcerated for over twenty years — nearly ten of them here at the Yard. As the Rec Clerk, my job is supposed to be organizing events and running leagues. With recreation eliminated, I mostly handle light clerical work and take photos for inmates. But when photo supplies ran out in April 2025, I finally had time. So I picked up a shovel, a steel rake, and a wheelbarrow — and I got to work.
Hour by hour, I cleared tumbleweeds, filled vole holes, and leveled the ground. I trapped thirty gophers along the way. One person, sneaking a few hours at a time, restored the Small Ballfield enough to make it playable again. It was like eating an elephant, one bite at a time.
By July 2025, just as the field was recovering, a maintenance crew finally fixed a broken sprinkler pipe. We drained the pond that had formed from a year-long leak. Grass began to grow again.
Another Setback
Then disaster struck again. Another sprinkler head broke. The main was shut off but leaked constantly, creating yet another pond. Maintenance has ignored it, just as before. The Small Ballfield is once again damaged. Soccer this summer? Canceled. Maybe we’ll ice skate when the pond freezes.
Meanwhile, the Large Ballfield remains locked, unused, and wasted. Intramural sports — once the beating heart of Yard recreation — are gone.
A Bitter Ending
This story doesn’t have a happy ending. After four years of neglect and a brief flicker of hope, the ballfields are once again unusable. For the men here, it’s not just about sports — it’s about having purpose, building community, and being treated like human beings. Taking that away leaves only idleness, frustration, and despair.
All we wanted to do was play ball.