State is willing to lease out old prison

A Hall, shown above in this January 2010 file photo, is the oldest housing unit at the old Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City. Photo by Stephen Brooks.

By Michelle Brooks

Thursday, August 23, 2012

The possibility of an entity leasing the historic area of the Missouri State Penitentiary (MSP) from the state is a step closer.

“The state has agreed in principle to a long-term lease,” Cathy Brown, director of facilities management, design and construction for the Office of Administration, told a handful of commissioners Wednesday at the quarterly MSP Redevelopment Commission meeting. “It is moving forward.”

The lease could be with the City of Jefferson and could be for about 10 years, Brown said, adding that the contents and the parties involved with such a lease have not been determined.

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dokeus6 9 months ago

How about use it as a conference center? looks big enough

Busch 9 months ago

I say we fill it with prisoners again. Cole county should have used it before spending million on a new jail. Slap a coat of paint on it and use it. The gov't keeps telling us to recycle but they never do!

JCLifer 9 months ago

Best Comment of the Week!!!!

muleman 9 months ago

I was just thinking the same thing

dokeus6 9 months ago

It would draw people into the old prison area and would give the visitors of the conference a place to go when the conference had a break. They would not have to drive down to Missouri Boulevard or walk uptown to enjoy the scenery this town has. Have some restaurants or small coffee shops outlying the whole square. How many small business could start up? This town needs to build to it's strengths not to the weaknesses. If you don't have any parking in the downtown area why would you want to add that much more traffic to that area? I say Build that side of town up. All of the older architecture and buildings. Use the history of this town as it's selling point. People would come to see this.

JCLifer 9 months ago

Have you ever started a restaurant? Talk to all the small entrepreuners who have started up restaurants and failed over the past five years. Ask them how much money they will make selling coffee to state employees who go to a conference. These dreams are nice, but they are not reality.
It might be interesting to list all the unique "strengths" this town has, and then get someone from the outside to tell us which ones on the list are really unique strenghts valued by employers. Probably the biggest "strength, (which is also our biggest weakness) is very low labor rates for a very uneducated and unqualified workforce with poor employability skills. We need to invest in a better public schools that focus on providing skills for jobs locally, not focusing on everyone going to college so they can get out of Jefferson City ASAP and never look back. If we can create a strong skilled and educated workforce, we can probably atttract some good-paying jobs. Of course we will also have to somehow fix the biggest inhibitor to growth and wealth in this city- the largest employer that pays the lowest wages #50 of all states in the nation and holds down the quality of life for everyone here.

JCLifer 9 months ago

You can feed them since you are so willing and eager. I am sure you have plenty of room at your house.

asb 9 months ago

Thanks Lifer you bring home the biscuit perfectly. For whatever reason, some people won't volunteer help. That's why charity is never enough, and that's why you pay, through taxes, whether you like it or not. I'm sorry you don't see the need or the right of it, but there it is, now pay up Scrooge.

spelchek 9 months ago

Yeah Lifer. Paying in to those who won't is "fair". How dare you even think about asking some of these people to give up their broadband connection, cell phone bill, and satellite to pay for something like....food for their kids. Scrooge indeed.

JCLifer 9 months ago

Your fingers should be pointing at the evil parents whop want to starve their poor kids. Why is personal accountability so hard for you liberals?

Feeding kids should be pretty high on the list of these poor folks before cigarettes, liquor, drugs, cars, satellite TV, internet, computers, jewelry, cell phones, eating out, fancy clothes.

They need to get a second or third job if they have to, but they should prioritize feeding their kids before much of anything else. If they cannot afford to have kids and properly provide for them, they should not have kids in the first place.

P E R S O N A L A C C O U N T A B I L I T Y F I R S T!

JMO 9 months ago

For crying out loud! The people who can afford all those things DON'T qualify for reduced and free lunches!!!

JCLifer 9 months ago

Over half the students at jcps are getting free/reduced lunch. Have you ever seen these kids get dropped off at school in the morning from their Cadillacs and other nice cars and SUVs?

JMO 9 months ago

And you get your statistics from where, exactly? The statistics I'm finding show 49.52%, if you add every school together. Not surprisingly, East and South Elementary skew the numbers, being over 80%. JCHS is at around 35.52%. I think this shows more about the economy in Missouri than anything else.

dese .mo .gov/divadm/food/11-12StatsIndex.html

And I still don't care. You don't let kids go hungry. You just don't.

JCLifer 9 months ago

I didn't let children go hungry It was their loser parents who let them go hdungry.

dokeus6 9 months ago

Does the Railroad Run in front of the old Prison? We could move the Train Station there. Maybe anchor a Gambling boat. (WE need to vote this in) River tours. Concert Venues. Give the people something to do when they visit. That is the biggest complaint I hear from people when I travel to other cities and they ask where I'm from. There is nothing for them to do once they are done seeing the Capitol or the other sites.

bertd 9 months ago

I recently have been spending time in this area. So far the old prison tour is one of the few things I've done that I would recommend to friends who might visit.

JCLifer 9 months ago

"Commissioner Mike Berry supported the step, suggesting any funding to do meaningful work on the property soon will need to come from local resources."

rodinman 9 months ago

There was an excellent in-depth analysis of conference centers presented by a private citizen. Look for an article in the next day or two as the reporter was given a copy of his analysis.

MsEMS 9 months ago

I like dokeus6 ideas.

JCLifer 9 months ago

She has great ideas. She just needs to figure out how to pay for them.

dokeus6 9 months ago

I'm not a She Lifer. Thanks for taking a moment to look at my profile to figure that one out.

Sequoia 9 months ago

They should hold multi-day death metal music festivals in there.

JCLifer 9 months ago

I could support that! Maybe open the door to GLT conventions too.

dokeus6 9 months ago

I'm all for the metal music festivals. That would be great.

asb 9 months ago

Uh, are there any rooms in that building big enough to hold more than one or two really close friends?

JCLifer 9 months ago

How about remodeling the building and opening it up for "no tell" meetings between folks who are really close and just want to use a room for an hour or so?

dokeus6 9 months ago

That would be a hotel room Lifer.

asb 9 months ago

I've often thought the same thing about the old shoe factory.

bertd 9 months ago

Rather than spending more and more money on schools maybe we should start kicking the butts of people who refuse to instill the value of an education in their children. Education is available, with far to many taxpayer funded bells and whistles. Maybe requiring folks on welfare, those who refused to take advantage of a free high school education, to speak to the kids in school wouldn't hurt. With taxpayers now providing food stamps to one of every seven people, and providing some type of handout to one in every three people, it should not be difficult to find speakers.

1OPINION43 9 months ago

I keep asking this question but neither the city nor the state seems to want to give me an answer. Why has the state not designated the old penitentiary as a State Historical Site? Given the age of the institution, it was not only instrumental in the growth of Jefferson City but also plays a great roll in the very history of Missouri. I am all for the development of the area but I do not believe the city should shoulder the burden of paying for something they do not own and could be razed at any time by the state. Surely the state can see its historic value!

RobHunterJohnson 9 months ago

We need a Casino, to ancher the convention center (Private Developer). Rob

eileen10 9 months ago

Acasino is a real good idea. It would create jobs and bring money in and maybe some kind of theme park although I have no idea about cost or how to pay for it but if it worked it would be a plus I think. I'm clueless about that kind of thing but I know there are plenty of you who aren't.I'm talking about the paying for it etc.

JCLifer 9 months ago

A casino would be a great addition to this boring town.

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