Joliet prison may become tourism attraction July 21, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Movies, Preservation.trackback
The long-closed Joliet Correctional Center, located off Route 66 in Joliet, Ill., and the setting for the opening scene of “The Blues Brothers,” is seriously being considered as a tourism site, according to a report in the Chicago Tribune.
The Joliet prison opened in the 1850s, and during the early years, inmates were used to build the massive walls of limestone from local quarries. Since it closed in 2002, the prison has sat empty as a blighted reminder of Joliet’s storied prison history. The building still draws scores of visitors from around the globe, many who want to go inside.
“(Tourists) are mesmerized by that thing,” said Tony Contos, executive director of the Joliet Area Historical Museum. “I think it’s just the idea of what’s behind those walls.”
Prison tourism can be big business. About 100 major prisons worldwide have been converted into museums, including Alcatraz in San Francisco, Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, the Tower of London and South Africa’s Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela served time.
Joliet, along with the Illinois Film Office and Department of Corrections, receives dozens of requests each month to tour the facility from filmmakers, photographers, prison buffs and even family members of former prison employees.
However, it’s going to take a lot of money to clean up the prison. It’s been damaged by weather, groundhogs, vandals, and old age. Asbestos and lead paint also need to be removed.
Joliet says it would consider partnering with the state on upgrading the property, or the state selling the prison to the city.
Joliet in 2009 opened Old Joliet Prison Park, which features kiosks about the history of the prison just outside its walls.
This is personal to me and I’m not suggesting everyone should feel as I feel. I did time in the “old Joint” as convicts were apt to call it and I do not consider an institution that housed depraved souls and was the scene of many an additional crime for the inhumanity that existed in that place worthy of any such memorial in any way.