The sounds, smells, and sights of progress at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center have changed from carbon blades cutting steel, to jackhammers, diesel exhaust, and shadows of heavy equipment maneuvering behind a 10-foot-tall security fence.

For more than a year, Correctional Construction Management crews (formerly named Inmate Day Labor) have worked on the facility’s Upper Yard. The goal is to transform a secure outside space, once filled with solitary cells used by Death Row residents, into a rejuvenated recreation area for the entire San Quentin community.

“The focus is to have a place where rehabilitation can prosper,” said Lt. B. Haub.

In May 2024, the last of the condemned residents housed at San Quentin moved to various prisons across the state. Soon after, the demolition of 38 isolation cells (installed in 2008) and a basketball court made room for a more dignified rehabilitation space.

“There are now 52 of us trying to get this project done as soon as possible,” said resident CCM worker Daryl Beulah, 61.

Beulah added that the CCM team includes 38 San Quentin residents, and more than a dozen outside union masons, electricians, heavy equipment operators, and carpenters.

The revamping of the Upper Yard project showed signs of progress in October, when dozens of trucks made their way across the facility to deliver hundreds of yards of concrete. Masons then shoved, floated, and troweled the freshly poured cement into a path, changing the landscape of the 174-year-old institution forever.

“They are really pushing us to reopen a lane for through traffic before the weather gets bad,” said Officer M. Vesely. “We’ll have to see how much the rain will slow us down in regards to when the rest of the yard will open.”

Resident Beulah said he has worked on all the major construction projects at San Quentin over the last five years. He oversees tool distribution, job hazard analysis, and daily work reports. He explained that the newly remodeled 30,000 square-foot space will include seating areas, picnic tables, and four “seat walls” acting as planter boxes with trees in the center.

He added that the blueprints show a small stage area and a dog run, designed for San Quentin’s Canine Companions trainers to work with four-legged, tail-wagging, trainees.

“The large canopy above us will have translucent multi-colored panels,” said Beulah. “The new light fixtures, installed on the overhead trusses, will really light this place up.”

Other progress evident is when an escort lane—once used exclusively by Death Row residents and their officer escorts—reopened in November to the entire population. The new path signifies a new chapter in the storied history of the Upper Yard, symbolizing the facility’s transition to a rehabilitation center.

SQ resident Joey Ochoa, 52, said that when the project is complete, it will help to relieve a lot of the congestion from the Lower Yard. “It’s exciting to see San Quentin’s continued effort in creating spaces for us to focus on rehabilitation,” said Ochoa.