This Salisbury Post file photograph from May 1978 shows the construction progress on the $13.9 million, 10-story Piedmont Correctional Center, which from the beginning has been referred to as the ‘high-rise’ prison. Inmates begin filtering into the facility off Camp Road in Rowan County in May 1980. It provided single cells for 480 inmates and was designed as a medium-custody prison. One unique thing for its day was the absence of bars. Cell doors had unbreakable glass, and each cell also had an outside window. When it opened, this prison included three guard towers, an administration and custody building, control center, visiting and reception areas, a medical clinic, kitchen and dining areas and buildings for vocational training and education. It took more than three years to build.