The state doesn't have any immediate plans for the the Guilford Correctional Center in McLeansville, which closed on Oct. 1 as part of budget cuts.
The prison, known as Camp Burton, was one of seven smaller prisons closed to save $22 million, the Greensboro News & Record reports.
The N.C. Department of Correction can consult with state and local officials or talk to private organizations about converting the building.
The DOC must give priority to converting a closed prison to another criminal justice use where it would be cost-effective.
Prison Superintendent James Lacewell said he has heard about the space being used for people released from parole, which he said is not cost-effective, or for a pig museum.
"I don’t know if that was supposed to be a joke or something," he said.
Officials are not taking the proposal from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals seriously. Local leaders want to get a new tennant in quickly before the building starts to look like an abandoned prison.
