As the state battles with overcrowded prisons, Governor Jim Pillen announced today that Nebraska’s new $335 million state prison will be built in Lincoln, not all that far from the old one.

The specific location is 112th and Adams on the city’s northeast side.

According to Pillen, the site was based on two key factors: keeping inmates close to family, especially those in Omaha and Lincoln, and a ready-on-day-one workforce that is already in place.

The new prison will employ nearly 1,000 workers, the 100-year-old state penitentiary has 500 employees.

Nebraska’s new corrections director insists the new prison will go a long way toward solving the overcrowding problem.

Rob Jeffries, NE Corrections Director: “Our current facility at NSP is about 1,200, with a with a unit offline because of you know continued structural problems, what we have in this facility is about it will be 1,512 beds. So, that would be 300 plus beds as we move forward to help with the overcrowdedness.”

Construction on the new prison is scheduled to begin a year from now, no completion date was announced.

Once the new prison opens Jeffries says the old state pen will be shutdown for good.