I heard about this prison a couple of months before my friend Michael and I set out to explore it. It's located in Illinois and requires a bit of driving to get to. It was a cool January morning when we arrived, and it quickly became obvious that parking would be an issue. The prison sits in the middle of an empty field, and I was sure that any car parked on the road would draw unwanted attention. Not good. We drove around for a short while before deciding to park on a residential road near the prison.
From where we parked, the prison was not even visible. We got out of the car and set out toward the building, but we ran into something unexpected. Ahead was a small patch of woods and a creek. Normally this wouldn't have been a big deal, but it was 30 degrees outside and the last thing I wanted was a wet pair of shoes. Not good. Fortunately, I'm creative. Well, that or I was just lucky there were a few 2x4's lying in the woods near the creek. Michael and I created a rickety bridge across the creek and made it over with dry shoes.
We headed up an adjacent hill and found ourselves on the edge of some strange soccer field. But it was no ordinary soccer field. Rather than two nets, there were several nets in the field and they were organized in the most random fashion. It was a nice break from the woods and the creek, but the prison was little more than a speck from where we were standing. After we passed the soccer field, we walked through another field, and one more after that. It ended up taking us about 45 minutes to get from our car to the prison.
I have always wanted to explore an abandoned prison. Admittedly, this place is no Eastern State Penitentiary, but it has its redeeming qualities. The prison is moderately sized, and appears to have been renovated on more than one occasion. There are several distinct wings inside the prison, and many of them contain dormitories rather than individual cells. I was actually surprised by the lack of bars inside the building. The only place I ran across individual cells was in the basement.
The prison is wide open and unboarded. Michael and I used the front door to get inside. The building is three stories high, but the basement is ground level in some places (making the second floor the actual first floor). Inside, the prison has been gutted and lacks the old files and promotional literature that make buildings more interesting. I wandered around the building for a few hours exploring what I could and enjoying the novelty of an abandoned prison. I'm not sure that I would go out of my way to visit again, but the prison was an intriguing find and definitely worth the trip.
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