After months of work, repairs at the old Missouri State Penitentiary are complete, state and city officials announced Tuesday.
The Jefferson City Area Convention and Visitors Bureau hosted state and city officials at the prison Tuesday morning to announce the completion of renovations, mold remediation and cleanup on the site, and give a tour of the facility.
Tours of the old prison site were temporarily suspended at the end of September, and the remainder of the 2013 tour season was eventually cancelled because mold was found at the site. After the announcement, the city and state agreed to split the estimated $2 million cost of repairs and mold remediation at MSP.
Doug Nelson, commissioner of the Office of Administration, said the repairs were completed under budget, for a total cost of roughly $1.5 million, which was split evenly between the city and state.
Officials said the work completed included cleanup of hazardous material, window repairs and closures in Housing Units 1, 3, 4 and the gas chamber, and roof replacements in each unit, as well as asbestos removal.
The completed work has allowed for more access inside the prison. The CVB tours are now able to show visitors more of Housing Unit 3 since a portion of the building that had always been closed to tours is now open because of the repair work.
Cathy Brown, OA's design and construction division director, said moving forward, maintenance should be minimal, pointing to a 20-year warranty on all the roof replacements, with the exception of Housing Unit 1, which has a 40-year warranty on its roof. She said the state also will monitor any water infiltration to prevent mold growth in the future.
And under the terms of the contract, Brown said the CVB will use the profits from prison tours to maintain the historic areas.
The city's investment resulted in a long-term contract with the CVB for the facility. Previously, the CVB operated on 11-month contracts, but the new agreement allows for a 15-year contract, with the option for two, five-year extensions.
Modified history tours resumed in April, which allowed access to Housing Units 1 and 4, and the gas chamber, while the state continued mold remediation and repair work. Full tour offerings began in the beginning of July.
Despite the more limited access earlier in the year, Diane Gillespie, executive director of the CVB, said tours are up this year from the same time last year. She said they are expecting 19,000 to 20,000 visitors to come through the prison this year.