Gov. Maura Healey’s administration could spend “upwards” of $800,000 to renovate and improve a former prison in Norfolk that was tapped earlier this year to house migrant families, many of whom were sleeping at Logan Airport, according to local and state officials briefed on the matter.

The plan to use taxpayer dollars to spruce up the state-owned Bay State Correctional Center comes as elected officials from the Norfolk area question what the state plans to do with the facility once it is no longer needed as an overflow site for migrants waiting to enter the state-run shelter system.

Rep. Marcus Vaughn, a Wrentham Republican whose district covers Norfolk, said the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, which partially oversees the state-run shelter system, shared the cost estimate during a private meeting with lawmakers.

“They just anticipated it could cost upwards of $800,000 to renovate everything that they needed to renovate at the facility,” he told the Herald. “If you’re investing that sort of money into this facility, and we are only supposed to be online for 12 months, I would only hope that we can reimagine this space for future use.”

The Healey administration has already spent $317,000 on renovations as of July 11, including for painting, grounds maintenance, climate control measures, lighting, plumbing, electrical updates, child-proofing outlets, and removal of razor wire, according to spokespeople for the state’s housing agency and the Department of Correction.

“This figure represents spending to date and is not the final total cost, for which I do not have an estimate at this time,” the spokesperson for the housing agency said in a statement to the Herald.

About $1.7 million has been spent on renovating overflow shelter sites, including an old courthouse in Cambridge and a recreational center in Roxbury, in fiscal year 2024, a report from Healey’s housing and budget-writing agencies shows.

The former prison was decommissioned in 2015 as the population of incarcerated people in Massachusetts declined and officials looked to save money by consolidating facilities. It was largely left vacant for about a decade, except to serve as a transportation hub for the Department of Correction and an occasional training location.

Norfolk Town Administrator Justin Casanova-Davis said he was also told the state planned to spend around $800,000 to renovate the former prison, though he cautioned the amount could vary depending on what was needed.

Casanova-Davis said he was on leave for the last month but received updates on the status of the overflow shelter from his staff and other area officials.

“The feedback that I heard from our acting town administrator and the select board is that the changes that were made were positive,” he said in an interview. “The site looked to be in better shape than when I had visited, so clearly they’ve done work there.”

State officials confirmed the amount they expected to spend on the former prison during an early June community forum held in Norfolk.

Blair Brown, an assistant secretary with the Executive Office of Education who helps manage the state’s shelter response, said at the public meeting that officials estimated spending between $500,000 and $800,000 to rehabilitate the site.

“It could be higher, but we haven’t gotten all the quotes yet,” she said about an hour and a half into the meeting, which was recorded and posted online.

The site is anticipated to house up to 450 individuals — or 140 families that are eligible for emergency shelter placement under Massachusetts’ right-to-shelter law — and stay open for between six months and one year, according to a presentation shared at the June public meeting.

State officials entered into a six-month contract with Boston-based Heading Home to provide services at the shelter and make the location suitable for families, according to the organization’s chief executive officer, Danielle Ferrier.

Ferrier said the building was not fully abandoned during the years it sat vacant.

“The mechanicals, for example, had been used,” she said in an interview. “(The) plumbing had been used. And that is really relevant because if you go into a building where that’s not the case, you’re going to turn something on and it’s most likely going to break right away.”

Sen. Becca Rausch, whose district includes Norfolk, said she visited the site last week and “saw significant improvements to the facility” like the installation of diaper changing stations compared to a previous visit last month.

“I hope that the renovations and improvements to this site will make it eligible for continued service to the public after the temporary shelter is no longer needed. I look forward to future conversations about the possibilities,” she said in a statement to the Herald.

But Vaughn, who toured the site last week, said roof repairs were proving to be a “major issue.”

“I’m sure that’s going to be a larger portion of the cost of refurbishment of the facility,” he said.

As the state repairs the site, the future of the prison is up in the air.

At the June public meeting, Adit Basheer, the deputy of the state’s shelter incident command center, said the facility would be returned to the Department of Correction system once the shelter closes.

After that, plans are murky.

“The facility’s future use has not been determined and next steps remain under consideration,” the spokesperson for the Department of Correction said in a statement to the Herald.

Vaughn has some ideas about potential uses, including setting it up as a space for veterans.

“With the amount of money that we are pouring into it, we do not want to see the facility just sit there,” he said. “We have a housing crisis. We have a lack of beds with mental health support in the state. Veterans need support. There’s myriad ways we can help the constituents of the commonwealth with a facility like this.”

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The converted prison in Norfolk that is now a shelter. (Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)