Sisolak signs bill to help Nevada State Prison project

Gov. Steve Sisolak on Friday signed AB270 — legislation designed to help the project to turn the historic Nevada State Prison into a museum and tourist attraction.

Sponsor P.K. O’Neill, R-Carson City, said the measure is intended to help both the old prison and the Stewart Indian School on Carson’s southern border generate revenue.

Glen Whorton, former director of Corrections, said the big thing the law does for the prison is make any revenue they generate immediately available for preservation and maintenance projects at NSP. The former law required any money raised be put in a trust fund managed by the Department of Corrections and prohibited the preservation group from spending the first $100,000 raised.

He said the other things AB270 does is allow the group to serve alcohol for special events. That took legislation because existing law prohibits the sale of alcohol within a half-mile of any prison in the state.

Whorton said that opens the door to holding weddings, graduation parties and other events on the prison grounds. He said there has also been some interest in using the prison on East 5^th Street as the start or finish for the annual mountain bike competitions in Carson City. In the past, he said they were unable to make that happen because of the alcohol ban.

At present, he said the group is conducting tours of the prison, parts of which are more than 100 years old. NSP also contains the historic execution chamber that was originally designed as a gas chamber.