PONTIAC - Even episodes of pouring rain could not stop more than 1,000 people from showing their support for keeping Pontiac Correctional Center open. Mayor Scott McCoy estimated 1,500 to 2,000 people showed up for a "Save Pontiac Prison" photograph. | Video

Everyone wore a navy blue shirt as they milled around the Livingston County Courthouse.

The photograph and a previous parade are part of an effort to convince Gov. Rod Blagojevich to keep the prison open. The governor has proposed closing the prison and moving inmates to a now-unused prison in Thomson was a way to save money.

On Saturday, participants ranged from the very young to the very old, and city, county and state workers stood among them. Everyone braved short moments of pouring rain while photographers Jim Morse and Jennifer McCoy, the mayor's wife, took pictures from a fire truck basket a few stories high.

The photos will be used in a panoramic shot showing the downtown area, and could be used in future publications and even billboards, McCoy said previously.

Kirk Lefler, a correctional officer at Pontiac since 1997 and with the Illinois Department of Corrections since 1986, said the mood among prison workers can be summed up into one word.

"Everything is just uncertain right now," he said. "If you have to use a word to describe it, then that would be it."

Lefler said the issue of closure is more a game of politics then anything else, and that he will show his support in any way he can to hopefully "influence some politicians."

Stephen Bennet of Pontiac, sitting on a bench waiting for the photo, Pontiac might not recover economically if the prison were to close.

"I think home prices will drop through the bottom and the job market in Pontiac will be dead," he said. "Pontiac will die."

"We're here to save Pontiac prison," Grace Metz, 10, of Pontiac, said while sitting with her family south of the courthouse. "If it closes then there will be a lot of poor people."

McCoy said the photos should be on display early next week on either the city Web site, www.pontiac.org, or o the Web site of state Sen. Dan Rutherford, a Chenoa Republican, at www.danrutherford.com.

Before the photo was taken, Rutherford addressed the crowd and said he had met with Illinois Senate leaders Friday about the recently passed budget, which included funding for the prison. However, Rutherford said, Blagojevich still has the authority to reduce or veto money for the prison.

"The message was made very clear yesterday to the governor that you do not do that to Pontiac penitentiary," Rutherford said.