Some heat restored to Nashville prison
Heat was restored late Tuesday night to at least a portion of a Nashville prison that lost the use of its main boiler system on New Year’s Day amid a statewide cold spell.
Tennessee Department of Correction spokeswoman Neysa Taylor said at 10:23 p.m. Tuesday that Riverbend Maximum Security Institution’s boiler system was producing hot water and heat in some areas of the nearly 30-yearold facility.
It wasn’t immediately clear how much of the roughly 320,000-square-foot prison was still without its heating system. Taylor said Wednesday morning she thought perhaps close to half of the prison had boiler-powered heat.
“The department expects that the entire facility will be back on boiler-produce in the next 48 hours,” Taylor said in an emailed statement.
There were 787 inmates at the prison as of Nov. 30, according to state statistics. Riverbend houses many highrisk inmates along with Tennessee’s only death row.
After losing water pressure Monday, the prison’s boiler system stopped working.
“At this time it appears that a valve malfunction was responsible for the loss of pressure,” Taylor said.
Temperatures dropped to single digits in Nashville recently, although the National Weather Service predicts slightly warmer weather through the end the week. On Tuesday, Taylor said the department relied on portable heaters and extra blankets to combat the cold.
Those portable heaters will go offline as the main heating system is restored, she said.
In a statement Tuesday, Bobby Straughter, assistant commissioner of operations, lauded the work of the state maintenance staff.
“These folks worked throughout the night in extreme conditions to ensure that everyone was kept safe. We thank them for their service,” Straughter said.
This is a developing story. Check Tennessean.com for more information.
Reach Dave Boucher at 615-259-8892, dboucher@ tennessean.com and on Twitter @Dave_Boucher1.
“These folks worked throughout the night in extreme conditions to ensure that everyone was kept safe. We thank them for their service.”
— BOBBY STRAUGHTER, ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER OF OPERATIONS