LINCOLN- Though Nebraska prison officials remain mum about what they plan to do with the aging State Penitentiary following the construction of a $350 million replacement facility north of Lincoln, the state plans to demolish at least one housing unit on the 155-year-old prison's campus, according to internal emails and other public records obtained by the Journal Star.

Nebraska's Department of Correctional Services plans to raze the State Penitentiary's Housing Unit 1, which hasn't been in use for more than two years after a pipe burst in November 2022 and flooded the unit’s mechanical room, where door controls, heating and cooling systems, IT systems and a camera security system had operated.

Prison officials predicted at the time that the damage would force the unit — which housed 134 inmates prior to the flood — out of commission for at least two years..

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