Massachusetts is closing another prison, this time in Bridgewater.
The Department of Correction announced Thursday "plans to conclude housing operations at the Old Colony Correctional Center minimum-security men’s facility," saying the facility would need $2.6 million in capital investments to continue on.
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There are 70 people incarcerated at the facility, which was built to accommodate about 160 people.
"The strategic decision to end operations at OCCC-Minimum and relocate its population and staff is based on a thorough assessment of the facility’s age, maintenance needs, and required renovations," the DOC said.
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The Department of Correction described the facility as a 40-year-old prefabricated modular structure located on a campus alongside Bridgewater State Hospital, the Massachusetts Treatment Center and the Old Colony Correctional Center-Medium Security Facility.
The other three facilities will remain open, and the DOC plans to move 26 correctional staff at minimum-security facility to the medium-security facility on the same campus.
The announcement comes months after the commonwealth announced that MCI Concord was being closed.
Officials have told NBC10 Boston that the decision to close MCI Concord, Massachusetts' oldest prison, was spurred by a declining statewide prison population as well as sky-high upkeep costs at the aging prison, which dates back to 1878.
At the start of the year, the Department of Correction's statewide prison population was 6,148, a 43% decrease from the 10,813 who were behind bars on the same date in 2015.
Researchers and public officials have pointed to a number of factors to explain the drop, including crime prevention, treatment and better re-entry support.
NBC10 Boston's Matt Fortin contributed to this report.
