City moves closer to MSP acquisition

The city hopes to see the red brick building, shown above in this March 2017 photo, developed in the 32 acres of the old MSP grounds.
The city hopes to see the red brick building, shown above in this March 2017 photo, developed in the 32 acres of the old MSP grounds.

Jefferson City is another step closer to gaining control of almost 32 acres of the old Missouri State Penitentiary (MSP).

The state Senate passed two bills Monday - SB 486 and SB 488 - which would transfer a portion of the MSP property to Jefferson City and Cole County, sending the legislation to the House for debate. Both bills passed unanimously.

To move forward, the bills will have to be assigned to a House committee, which must hold a hearing before the full House can debate it.

Mayor Carrie Tergin said the City Council plans to have a work session regarding MSP after the April election once the new Council is seated.

State Sen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, who sponsored the legislation, noted former Gov. Jay Nixon entered into - but did not sign before he left office - an agreement with Jefferson City to give the city a long-term lease on the 32-acre footprint.

However, Kehoe said, potential developers were hesitant to spend large amounts of capital on a site that has a lease on it.

So in exchange for the state transferring the land's ownership, the local governments would take care of any remediation or demolition that remains on the site, which is very little, and fund development of the infrastructure of the parkways.

Of the 128-acre MSP redevelopment site, Kehoe said, the state still would control about 95 acres to the east, which the state would continue to develop.

Tergin noted city, county and state officials have been waiting for this opportunity for nearly 20 years - since state officials during then-Gov. Mel Carnahan's administration began talking about replacing the oldest-operating prison west of the Mississippi River with a newer, more modern facility in the eastern end of Cole County.

MSP operated as a prison from 1836 until September 2004.

Since 2009, when Jefferson City's Convention and Visitors Bureau began offering tours of the old penitentiary, the number of tour-takers has grown from approximately 3,000 the first year to 33,000 last year. Last year alone, the MSP tours attracted visitors worldwide for a nearly $3.065 million economic impact.

The CVB signed a long-term lease with the state Office of Administration to show off what's called the "historic campus," including several residence halls and the gas chamber - which is down the hill from the main compound and actually is a part of the land the city would acquire.

Tergin said the city expects to protect the gas chamber from future development, leaving it on its current site but continuing its accessibility for the prison tours.

She reiterated redeveloping the old prison grounds is her top priority as mayor.

As Kehoe noted, Tergin said Jefferson City and Cole County governments will spend local money to build a road through the MSP site, giving access to the prison tours as well as expected commercial and entertainment development and to land the state might wish to develop in the future.

"This is the farthest we've ever gotten on prison redevelopment, and I couldn't be more pleased," Tergin said. "I'm grateful for Sen. Kehoe's leadership, and I know we have strong local leadership in the House as we move forward. I've talked many times with the Cole County Commission about this project, and I know the only way it will get done is a continued cooperative effort between all the entities - state, county and city."