Kurtis Conover was working Thursday afternoon when his phone began blowing up, a group text with neighbors in northeast Lincoln’s Waterford Estates subdivision reacting to news that the state plans to build a new prison nearby.

They weren’t happy texts — nor was Conover when he learned of the state’s plan to build a $350 million, 1,500-bed prison on more than 300 acres near 112th and Adams streets, about a mile outside the city limits — and about a mile and a half from the upscale subdivision in one of the fastest growing areas of Lincoln.

“I was just blown away that this is what was happening,” he said. “I was really not expecting a prison to be built a mile away from the neighborhood, as the crow flies.”

He’s far from alone. Residents of several neighborhoods in the area are communicating, trying to figure out the best way to register their opposition and — they hope — convince the state to locate elsewhere.

City officials were scrambling as well Friday to figure out what the decision means for the city, after having been notified by state officials of the selection shortly before Gov. Jim Pillen’s news conference on Thursday.

T.J. McDowell, the city’s chief of staff, said the state reached out earlier this year regarding their search for a prison site and asked if the city would sell them city property.

“At that time, we learned they were exploring sites in Lincoln, including the announced site, as well as sites in other communities,” he said in an email responding to questions. He did not indicate what city property the state was interested in buying.

City officials were worried about losing land for future growth and about locating the prison in Lincoln generally and declined the request to locate the prison on city property, he said. They also asked to be involved in future discussions.

“We wanted to understand the factors guiding their site selection and, if it had to be in Lincoln, if there were more mutually desirable locations,” he said.

That didn’t happen and the city didn’t hear from the state until Thursday.

In its comprehensive plan, the site sits in a part of the city in the top tier for future “urban residential” development, which means while there’s no water and sewer in the area now, planners believe it will be among the next growth areas and expect it to be developed by 2050.

McDowell said that would be the city’s preferred plan, and the city is gathering information about what the process will look like going forward, including the annexation process, as well as the provision of utilities and how it will impact the comprehensive plan.

But city officials believe the state has the ability to use the location without the city’s approval, he said.

The state signed a purchase agreement to pay $17 million for the site and Pillen said construction on the new prison, which will replace the existing Nebraska State Penitentiary, will begin in the fall of 2024. Pillen said officials looked at more than 70 potential sites and the one near 112th and Adams was chosen, at least in part, because of the existing workforce.

Lancaster County Board Chairwoman Christa Yoakum said commissioners were not consulted about placement of the new prison and knew nothing about the site selection before Pillen announced it.

The site is just beyond city limits, but within the city's 3-mile zoning jurisdiction. Still, Yoakum said the decision is worrisome.

“It’s concerning, proposing a prison near where an elementary school is located and where neighborhood growth is (occurring) at a pretty rapid speed,” she said.

While the future East Beltway is planned further east and isn’t likely to be directly affected by a prison, it could negatively affect growth toward the beltway once it’s built, she said.

Residents in the area — where there are multiple neighborhoods east of 84th Street, as well as Lincoln’s newest elementary school and churches, some with child care centers — are worried about what a prison would do to property values as well as future development.

Steve Devitt and his family built their “forever home” in Prairie Village North, near 95th and Adams, and he said many residents in the area were looking forward to more restaurants and commercial and retail offerings in the area.

“It’s just getting going and everyone agrees that’s the end of it,” he said. “This pretty much puts a nail in the coffin of development in northeast Lincoln.”

Richard Meginnis, a former City Council member and president of NAI FMA Realty, said the city’s strongest growth area is east Lincoln and a prison will create a big barrier.

Unlike the current prison, which was built near what was until recently Nebraska 2 and U.S. 77, there’s no road network near 112th and Adams, he said. And there’s very little residential development near the current prison, a fate he worries will come of that area if a prison goes up.

“It becomes an industrial area at best,” he said.

He said he wasn’t opposed to locating a prison in or near Lincoln, because of the jobs it would keep here.

“I’m just disappointed the state picked this site,” he said.

Conover said Waterford Estates, which is located east of 84th Street to about 104th Street between O and Holdrege streets, has about 700 homes and Dominion Estates east of Waterford is being developed now.

“I know a lot of people aren’t happy about it,” he said

Devitt said among his worries is the light pollution a large prison would cause for residents across northeast Lincoln. His parents, he said, live in Syracuse, about 15 miles from the state prison in Tecumseh and lights from the prison are clearly visible.

He can’t understand how something like this could happen with no discussion with the people most affected by it. When the first prison was built, the city grew around it. This is being thrust upon them.

“Why would you build it so close to neighborhoods?” Devitt said. “There’s an endless amount of open farmland any direction around Lincoln.”