State funding approved for historic prison, FISH housing

In the waning days of the 82nd session of the Nevada Legislature, significant funding was directed to two nonprofit-led projects in Carson City: restoration of the Nevada State Prison and Friends In Service Helping’s student housing project on North Carson Street.

“I was just fortunate enough to have the opportunity to put the request in,” Republican Assemblyman P.K. O’Neill, who represents Carson and lobbied for the funding, told the Appeal on Tuesday.

Assembly Bill 525, an appropriations bill, included $1 million for the prison and $3 million for the FISH project. The bill was passed by the Assembly on June 3 and the Senate on June 5. The Nevada Independent reported Gov. Joe Lombardo signed the bill into law June 16.

O’Neill said the preservation of the state prison, which was established in 1862, is important to the history of the state as a whole and more specifically to tourism in Carson City.

The FISH project will revitalize Carson City in a different way, he explained, by providing transitional housing for families learning a technical trade. He said inclusive services will help people improve life and work skills.

Rendering of the FISH student housing project in north Carson City.

 

“It’s a true benefit,” O’Neill said. “It isn’t just for Carson City alone.”

Carson City Supervisor Maurice White, who is president of the Nevada State Prison Preservation Society, said the new funding will be used to replace half the roof of the historic facility including that of the administrative building. During this year’s record-setting winter, White catalogued 63 leaks in the facility.

“The Nevada State Prison really represents the beginning of Nevada’s government,” White told the Appeal. “The Nevada State Prison was a leader in penitentiary operations, and I just feel like it’s important to save this historic building, so it doesn’t go the way the V&T shops did. There’s a lot of history there.”

The historic V&T Railroad shops in downtown Carson were demolished in the 1990s.

FISH Executive Director Jim Peckham said the organization’s $17 million, 36-apartment student housing project is now $3 million closer to completion, thanks to the Legislature. So far, FISH has raised $11.5 million in funding, he said. The apartments are expected to be completed in the fall, despite supply chain issues, and the project’s commercial building along North Carson Street is expected to be completed in December or January.

“It’s a nice boost in the arm,” Peckham said of the state funding.

Peckham said the governor toured the site in the spring and wanted the state to get more involved. The project will serve as a pilot program for the rest of the state, showing how housing and training can be paired with workforce needs, Peckham said.

“We’re revitalizing the workforce as well as revitalizing families to help them be able to grow,” he said. “I think P.K. and the governor understand the kind of cutting edge of what we’re doing, and it could be duplicated.”

According to the approved bill, funding must be used by Sept. 19, 2025.

For information on the prison project, visit https://nevadastateprison.org/.

For information on the FISH project, visit https://www.nvfish.com/page/fish-revitalization-project/.