The historic but long-abandoned Joliet Correctional Center in Joliet, Illinois, best known for the opening scene of “The Blues Brothers” movie, will become a haunted house in time for Halloween.
The Joliet Patch reported this week Evil Intentions, which operates an acclaimed haunted house in nearby Elgin, Illinois, announced it will open a second site at the Joliet prison.
“Evil Intentions is opening the doors to the terrifying Old Joliet Prison,” the company’s website boasts. “Walk the hallways of Chicago’s most notorious killers like John Wayne Gacy, Richard Speck, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb. Descend into the hellish basement where inmates were left to die in pitch-black cells.”
Evil Intentions says it will be open this Fall in time for the 2018 Halloween season, and the city of Joliet is on board with the project. […]
The Evil Intentions haunted house will occupy the old women’s prison building on Collins Street. The two-story building is across the street from the main limestone prison where Dan Aykroyd picked up John Belushi in the classic flick.
The Evil Intentions website states tickets to its Elgin site — inside an abandoned casket factory — are $25 and $35. Going through the attraction takes about 30 minutes. This isn’t your typical Jaycees haunted house that charges a few bucks’ admission.
In addition to plenty of effects and competent acting, good haunted houses also use the quirks of an existing structure and its history to inflame the imaginations of its visitors. The mind reels at all the ideas the Evil Intentions gang could come up with at an old, abandoned prison.
The city of Joliet long has supported rejuvenating the old limestone-walled prison, which closed in 2002 after almost 150 years. The Joliet City Council recently approved an agreement with the state to lease the property and pursue redevelopment efforts there. Last fall, the city embarked on a massive cleanup there, mostly by clearing overgrown vegetation.
The city seeks to eventually conduct bus tours inside the prison, along with opening a hotel, restaurants and gift shops at its grounds. The prison remains a popular photo-op for Route 66 travelers.
The old Joliet Correctional Center shouldn’t be confused with Stateville Correctional Center, which sits in nearby Crest Hill, Illinois, along Illinois 53 (aka Route 66) and still is being used.
(Image of the Joliet Correctional Center in Joliet, Illinois, by JymPolranges via Flickr)
Just what is it about All Hallow’s Eve (a Christian festival) and ghosts – and all the other paraphernalia? How about bringing out the ghoulish pumpkins for Good Friday? And Trick or Treat for Easter Sunday? Then there are all the holy days of other religions……. Why can a former prison not be treated as such? Is that too adult an idea?
I’m pleased to learn that the Old Joliet Prison will be repurposed, but I would really like to see regular Joliet Prison TOURS conducted on a regular basis. That will bring in the money needed to create the master plan of the hotel/restaurant/gift shop.