As Logan migrants are funneled to a former prison, changes at Terminal E

An area at Logan Airport used for months as a shelter of last resort for hundreds of migrants was transformed Tuesday into a construction staging area. By early morning, state police officers and social workers had cleared the site of a handful of remaining people as a deadline arrived for migrants to stop sleeping in Logan’s Terminal E.

For over a year, families have stayed in the airport, sometimes as many as 400 people at a time, according to one airport official who spoke to WBUR. Now the state is directing families to a newly-opened shelter at the former Bay State Correctional Center, a state prison in Norfolk that closed in 2015. It now has beds to accommodate up to 140 families, or roughly 450 individuals.

A spokesperson for Gov. Maura Healey's administration told WBUR that as of Tuesday afternoon, 113 individuals were staying at Norfolk.

Haitian community leader Dieufort Fleurissaint, known as “Pastor Keke,” praised the state for setting up an alternative to the airport before closing it to newly arrived immigrants seeking shelter.

Asked about housing children behind prison walls, Fleurissaint said the site “is still a refuge. It’s much better than sleeping on the floor at the airport, it’s much better than sleeping [outdoors] in the park.”

In late June, Healey announced that starting July 9, homeless and migrant families would no longer be permitted to sleep at Logan — and sent officials to Texas to spread the message that Massachusetts shelters are full.

Fleurissaint said that message was heard loud and clear by groups in Massachusetts, and he’s been spreading the word on Haitian radio and social media. But he said some people learn by word of mouth of Massachusetts as a destination — and of Logan as a place to stay — and could continue to arrive at the airport in the coming days.

“News got around quickly that Boston was so compassionate and helped families who ended up at the airport — they were able to be placed into shelters,” he said. “They didn’t have that opportunity in other states.”

At the airport’s Terminal E Tuesday morning, workers trucked out loads of mattresses and toys from the area where families were sleeping. They cleaned and buffed the floors. By noon, the workers were setting up barriers they said were intended to house building materials, as they begin a renovation of that portion of the terminal, which welcomes international travelers.

According to MassPort, which operates Logan, workers will replace ticket counters in the terminal, and the strip where the migrants had been staying will be used to stage equipment and materials.