Officials recommend building new death chamber in Ely

CARSON CITY - State officials are recommending Nevada build a new execution chamber at Ely State Prison.

Nevada's existing death chamber is housed at the now-closed Nevada State Prison in Carson City that was shuttered in January.

The Nevada Appeal reported that a proposed list of capital improvement projects estimates constructing an execution chamber in the Ely prison administration building would cost about $692,000.

That's far less the $5.3 million estimate to build a new execution building in Southern Nevada.

Officials said another advantage is that all death row inmates are currently housed in Ely.

The new execution chamber was part of a $127 million package of projects recommended by the head of the state public works department.

The Public Works Board will meet Sept. 18 to try to finalize the list.