The Great Rivers and Routes Tourism Bureau earlier this month won an Illinois Excellence in Tourism award for Best International Marketing for its Route 66 campaign.
The extensive Route 66 section of its website can be found here. Great Rivers and Routes Tourism concentrates on attractions in southwest Illinois.
The Joliet Area Historical Museum also won for Best Event or Festival with a budget of less than $500,000 for its “A Night Behind Bars” event at the Old Joliet Prison.
“A Night Behind Bars” just before Halloween in 2019 included a 90-minute Haunted Prison Tour featuring 30 actors, former prisoners and former prison staff members telling real-life stories from the historic prison’s past. The event also had live music, food, a full cash bar, signature drinks and unique giveaways. It sold out quickly.
The distinctive limestone walls of Joliet Correctional Center, aka Old Joliet Prison, were built in 1858, and the state of Illinois closed it in 2004. The prison was used in a number of film and television productions, notably “The Blues Brothers.” The city of Joliet signed a five-year lease with the state in December 2017 to use the prison.
The city seeks to eventually open a hotel, restaurants and gift shops in the prison grounds. The prison remains a popular photo-op for Route 66 travelers and regularly is used for tours.
The awards ceremony on Dec. 6 was part of the 2021 Illinois Governor’s Conference on Travel & Tourism at Navy Pier in Chicago.
(Hat tip to Lulu Bagdon; images by Genesis Villarreal via Illinois Department of Commerce)