The Missouri House has approved a measure that would allow the governor to transfer land near the old Missouri State Penitentiary (MSP) to Jefferson City.
The bill allows the transfer, sale or conveyance of nearly 32 acres of old prison grounds near the Capitol.
The House approved the measure Monday by a 127-17 vote. It previously passed the Senate and now heads to the governor.
The penitentiary opened in 1836 and was the oldest continually operating prison west of the Mississippi River when it shut down in 2004. Some of the oldest buildings now are used for historical tours.
Part of the property already has been redeveloped with a U.S. courthouse and state office buildings.
Bill sponsor Rep. Mike Bernskoetter said Jefferson City hopes to develop some of the idle land.
Sen. Mike Kehoe sponsored the legislation in the Senate and 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.
In exchange for the state transferring the land's ownership, the local governments would take care of the remaining little remediation or demolition on the site and fund development of the infrastructure of the parkways.
Mayor Carrie Tergin arrived late to Monday night's City Council
meeting after following the House debate and found out during the meeting about the final vote.
Tergin earlier had said the engineering work was done and 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.
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.
"This is the farthest we've ever gotten on prison redevelopment, and I couldn't be more pleased," Tergin said.