Prison as a tourist attraction

We at Prison Call Deals thought we would bring you a “lighter” story about prison today – from Fox News about the prison that served as the filming location for “The Shawshank Redemption” (1994) that was turned into tourist attraction as it escaped demolition.

 

This giant building of Ohio State Reformatory, built in 1886, had 80.000 visitors in 2013; it was also the site for celebrations marking the hit movie’s 20th anniversary last week. The 40′s themed cocktail party was a big success.

 

9.9.214, Shawshank Redemption Prison 1

Source: weburbanist.com

 

This building served as a prison until 1990, and the plan was to demolish it to make room for a garage. Over the years, the massive granite building with back walls 25 feet tall, 6 feet thick at the base and up to 250 yards long, fell into disrepair. In 1994, the Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society purchased the site for $1 with the understanding that it would revert to the state if progress wasn’t made to turn it into a viable tourist site.

 

This location served also as the scenery for mystery dinners, and Halloween haunts and festivals.  The place is believed to be haunted by several inmates that died while serving time at the facility. But, over the next six months, the building, which is located in Mansfield, Ohio, will be cleaned, decorated, renovated with big cathedral windows and heating so that it will be weatherproof for tourists within six months.

 

“It’s a 100-year project,” Paul Smith, director of the reformatory told the paper.

 

Right now, tourists can take as a 13-stop self-guided ‘Shawshank’ tour taking in some of the movie’s key moments.

 

9.9.214, Shawshank Redemption Prison 2

Source: amcnetworks.com

 

Visitors can see the bench where long-term convict Brooks (James Whitmore) fed the birds, the courthouse where Robbins’ character Andy Dufresne was convicted of murder, and the old oak tree where Andy concealed money for jail pal Red (Morgan Freeman).

 

In addition to the “The Shawshank Redemption,” the Ohio State Reformatory was used  in scenes for the film “Air Force One” and “Tango and Cash.”

 

You can read more similar and motivating stories in our BUZZ section, and you can contribute to the discussion, by sending us your comments and contributions – YOUR VOICE!

 

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Posted by on September 18, 2014

Category: News, Projects, Reports

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