Philadelphia has a lot of interesting tourist attractions. There is one in the Fairmount section of the city that merits review. If you wander five blocks north of the Art Museum, you will stumble upon Eastern State Penitentiary. Located at 22nd ST and Fairmount Ave, this has become a popular stop for visitors to the city. This former Prison was opened in 1829 and at the time was the most expensive building in the United States. It was run for 142 years. Now it is closed as a penal institution but it remains open for people to visit and see what prison life was like back when. It has been added to the National Landmark registry.

For a little history, one should know that the idea was to reform criminals through isolation. This was a system that the Quakers had. It was then imitated by prisons around the world. It achieved notoriety for some of its tenants. Bank robber Willie Sutton and Al Capone did hard time at Eastern State. The cell where Capone was held is part of the tour.

ESP is open from April 16 through November 30. You can visit Wednesday through Sunday from 10 AM to 5 PM. It is nine dollars for adults, seven for students and seniors and four for children 7-12. Children under seven are not allowed to enter.

They have hour long tour guides where you will get the tour of the cells as well as the courtyard, solitary confinement and the Rotunda. The building is old and hasn't been kept up as well as possible. Hard hats are required in order to take the tour. The guides give a good account of the history of the building including various prisoners and administrators. The tour is interesting. They will take you through some of the cells that are still in safer condition. It is very dingy going through the corridors of the prison. It must have been a pretty unpleasant place to be. Guess that's why it was a prison.

I was intrigued by the low doors. A person my height (5'11") has to duck to get into the cell. They are very small, too. This is a far cry from the luxury suite prison cells of the modern era. Here you were required to actually do hard time. Everyone wants to see Capone's cell. They recreate it to look as it did while he was there and they include numerous pictures of him while he attended this facility.

But the tours are not the only reason to come visit here. They also have art installations throughout the season. This will usually be photography but there are some drawing and painting exhibits as well. They are taking applications for the 2004 season already. There is also an acoustic guide. This is new feature that I have not yet checked out. It is an audio tour of daily life in the prison narrated by Steve Buscemi. This is done on the catwalks above the cellblocks.

They also will do a couple of Secret Cinema engagements. This is a small club that loves rarities in cinema. I went to one of these showings last year. They show the films in the courtyard weather permitting. When I went, it rained so they aired the film in the rotunda. I was one of the later arrivals so I ended up sitting on the cold, concrete floor to watch a B movie about a woman's prison. I was thinking it only cost me 6 bucks to do this. Other people have to commit heinous crimes for entertainment like this.

Their Halloween event is also popular. Terror Behind the Walls is the name of the event and it runs evenings throughout the month of October. You will get a taste of solitary confinement as well as be subjected to a few other frightening situations. I haven't done a Halloween there in several years but it is a lot of fun. According to their website they had food from Chef Emeril this year.

This is a creepy way to have some fun but it is an interesting experience. If you want to do something different for an afternoon (or evening in October), this fits the bill very well. And the Fairmount section of Philly also features some interesting restaurants and bars nearby. You can go to Zorba's for Greek food or London Grille for a tasty burger. Rembrandt's and Bridgid's are noted for being good beer bars that serve good food. This is an interesting part of the city with a prison as its tourist centerpiece.

check out their website for more info.

http://www.EasternState.org



Recommended: Yes