( CNN ) -- A proposal to house federal prisoners , including some detainees from Guantanamo Bay , in a largely vacant maximum-security prison would be an economic boost to struggling northern Illinois , state officials said Sunday . `` This is something that is very good for our state , it 's good for our economy , it 's good for public safety , '' Illinois Gov . Pat Quinn told reporters . Officials from the departments of Defense , Justice , Homeland Security and the federal Bureau of Prisons will visit the Thomson Correctional Center on Monday , the officials said . Quinn 's office on Saturday said the officials would see whether the `` virtually vacant , state-of-the-art facility '' in Thomson , about 150 miles west of Chicago , could be of use to the Bureau of Prisons . If it is , the governor and other officials said Sunday , it could provide up to 2,000 jobs and up to $ 1 billion in federal money to the area . And Dick Durbin , the Senate 's second-ranking Democrat , said he believes the proposal provides a `` once-in-a-lifetime opportunity '' for his state 's residents . `` There are other states that want to take these jobs , '' Sen. Durbin said . `` We 've got to win this competition . '' Under the proposal , he said , federal officials have said fewer than 100 detainees from the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba would be housed in the 1,600-bed facility . They would be in a wing under the control of the Department of Defense , while the Bureau of Prisons would assume responsibility for the rest of the facility . The United States is asking other countries to house some of the Guantanamo detainees when the prison is closed , said Durbin , the Senate majority whip . But those countries are asking why America is not housing some of the inmates itself , he said , and use of the Thomson facility would demonstrate to them that the United States is willing to shoulder some of the responsibility . An Obama administration official said Saturday that as part of the conversion at Thomson , the Bureau of Prisons and Defense Department would enhance security to exceed those of the nation 's only supermax prison -- the U.S. Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility in Florence , Colorado . No person has ever escaped from the prison . The Thomson proposal , first reported Saturday by the Chicago Tribune , triggered immediate concern from critics . U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk , R-Illinois , whose district covers suburban Chicago , circulated a letter addressed to President Obama to Illinois leaders Saturday , opposing the possible transfer of detainees and saying that housing them in Thomson would turn metropolitan Chicago into `` ground zero for Jihadist terrorist plots , recruitment and radicalization . '' As home to Chicago 's Willis ( formerly Sears ) Tower -- the nation 's tallest building -- `` we should not invite al Qaeda to make Illinois its number one target , '' says Kirk , who is running for the same Senate seat once held by Obama . Durbin on Sunday pointed to the federal maximum-security prison in Marion , Illinois , which he said already houses 35 people convicted of terrorism , along with members of Colombian drug gangs and Mexican drug cartels -- `` some of the most dangerous people in America . '' `` They 're all in our prisons , and they 're all held safely , '' he said . And `` things have n't changed in Marion , Illinois . '' Those housed in the Marion penitentiary include Ali al-Marri , who is serving a sentence of eight years and four months after pleading guilty in federal court to conspiring to provide material support to al Qaeda . The Thomson prison was built in 2001 and sat empty for five years because the state lacked the resources to open it . Despite being built as a maximum-security facility , it houses 144 minimum-security male inmates , according to the Illinois Department of Corrections Web site . `` After living in limbo for eight years , we 're open to any and all alternatives for Thomson , '' said Jerry `` Duke '' Hebeler , Thomson village mayor . He estimated that the move would cut the county 's unemployment in half . `` I 'd never chase jobs if I thought it would jeopardize the security and safety of my neighbors and friends , '' Hebeler said . Quinn said that during the inspection Monday , `` We want to answer any and all questions that the federal authorities have . '' The Obama administration has vowed to close the Guantanamo facility , but acknowledges it is unlikely to happen by its self-imposed January 22 , 2010 , deadline . About 215 men are held there . They include alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed , who officials said Friday will be transferred to New York to go on trial in civilian court . The federal prison system houses approximately 340 inmates linked to international terrorism , including more than 200 tied to international incidents , another Obama official said . CNN 's Jessica Yellin contributed to this report .
Proposal calls for using maximum - security prisons in the northern states . On Monday , federal officials to visit facility in Thomson , about 150 miles west of Chicago . ` ` It 's good for our economy , it 's good for public safety , '' Illinois governor says . But Rep. Mark # ##land plan could make Chicago ` ` ' zero '' for terror plots , too .