A Missouri board has approved a bond issuance to finance a new mental health facility at the Fulton State Hospital.
The vote this week by the Missouri Development Finance Board authorizes the issuance of $98 million of bonds this year as an initial phase in the financing.
By approving the project, the board also signaled its intent to authorize up to a total of $220 million of bonds, with additional rounds of bonding expected in 2015 and 2016.
The Fulton State Hospital is Missouri's only maximum-security psychiatric facility.
The bonding is the result of a measure passed this year by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Jay Nixon. It will pay to demolish old buildings and replace them with 413,000 square feet of new facilities.