They’ve seen it before.

A politician promises to swing the doors open to the nearly vacant Thomson Correctional Center and breathe new life into a town that’s seen its economy and population shrink.

Even though the Obama administration has said the Thomson prison is a “leading contender” to house a limited number of Guantanamo Bay detainees — and hundreds more federal prisoners — the view of many in Thomson and the surrounding towns of Carroll County is this: I’ll believe it when I see it.

“We’ve been promised so many things, so many times,” said Sharon Hook, a longtime Thomson resident who sits on the Carroll County Board of Supervisors.

The most recent disappointment came this spring, when Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn reversed a decision by ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich to close the prison at Pontiac., Ill., and send the inmates to Thomson.

But there have been others.

In 2001, the state legislature omitted initial operating funds from a budget bill.

That was just in the months that the $140 million Thomson prison was being completed.

In 2002, then-Gov. George Ryan’s budget included money to open the prison, but it never materialized.

A steady stream of state political figures have followed since then, arguing the prison needs to be fully opened.

Instead, only a fraction is occupied.

In fact, when Quinn said at a forum in Rock Island two weeks ago that there would be an announcement about Thomson over the weekend, some news reports didn’t even carry the comment.

“We’re almost to the point where you can’t excite people any more,” said Paul Hartman, a county board member from Savanna.

The prison opening is expected to help not only Thomson, but the entire county.

An economic analysis by the Obama administration projects the county’s unemployment rate, which was at 10.5 percent in September, would be cut by 2 to 4 percentage points.

At the Sunrise Cafe, which is just down the road from the prison, a great deal of the talk on the day administration officials toured the Thomson Correctional Center centered on the possibilities opening the prison might bring.

But almost as frequent as the comments about the need for jobs were words of caution.

Local efforts to not only open the Thomson prison but to lure prospects to the former Savanna Army Ammunition Depot have been frustrating.

“Once you’ve climbed this ladder several times, you kind of get immune to it,” Hartman said.