JEFFERSON CITY 鈥 State officials have rejected a bid to transform a state-owned building in north 狐狸视频 into a federal halfway house.
And with the former hospital and social services facility sitting empty, Gov. Mike Parson鈥檚 administration is moving to get rid of the facility known as Prince Hall, located at 4411 North Newstead Avenue.
Exodus Reentry Villages submitted the lone bid in April to lease Prince Hall, which was built in 1965 as a privately run hospital and then used by the state later as a clearinghouse for social service programs.
Thomas Utterback, who operates Exodus, wanted the 151,500-square-foot building to become the new provider in 狐狸视频 of services to federal prisoners being released from custody.
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But Parson鈥檚 Office of Administration, which handles state-owned real estate, determined that the Exodus proposal was 鈥渘on-responsive.鈥
鈥淥A has canceled the procurement and will not be reissuing at this time,鈥 agency spokesman Chris Moreland said.
Late last year, the U.S. Department of Justice awarded a contract to Exodus to replace Dismas House, which had run the oldest halfway house in the country after years of controversy.
Initially, the new halfway house was expected to be situated in the former home of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 3225 North Florissant Avenue, in the 狐狸视频 Place neighborhood.
That facility was supposed to open by March 1, housing as many as 160 inmates.
But Post-Dispatch columnist Tony Messenger reported that at least two prospective sites for the Exodus facility were nixed, raising questions about whether it would become a reality.
The Justice Department later announced it had extended Dismas House鈥檚 contract.
The decision to reject Utterback came as the Legislature sent Parson a package of bills that included language allowing the Office of Administration to sell the building, which sits on 6.2 acres in a residential area known as the Penrose neighborhood.
That legislation also calls for the sale of a handful of parcels of state-owned residential property surrounding Prince Hall.
鈥淚f the bill is signed, the governor is authorized to convey the properties, if desired, to any interested party,鈥 Moreland said.
The five-story property was last renovated in 1996, bidding documents note.
City records show the property has been cited in recent years for uncut grass, overflowing garbage containers and inadequate outside lighting.
The Department of Social Services operated a family resource center at the location until 2017. The state later offered some services through a private vendor at the facility, but that arrangement ended in June 2020.
In 2015, a group proposed using the building as a 10-bed hospital, but the plan didn鈥檛 materialize.