Staff hopeful penitentiary’s historic housing unit will boost Jefferson City economy
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Missouri State Penitentiary's historic Housing Unit four has once again opened its doors for tours after a tornado in 2019 caused it to shut down.
The tornado that hit Jefferson City in 2019, destroyed many homes and businesses, including the key portions of the Missouri state penitentiary, destroying the roof of housing unit four.
Housing unit four, one of the main attractors to the penitentiary had to close its doors, the city unsure when it would be able to re-open.
Alexandra Bobbitt, communications and film manager with the Jefferson City Convention and Visitor's Bureau, said workers had to start from scratch on the roof.
"It was starting from scratch, the whole roof was gone so we got new tresses up the whole roof is brand new," Bobbitt said.
Housing unit four comes with the most to see at the state pen. It opened up in 1868 and was used to imprison post-civil war criminals. It housed famous inmates like boxer Sonny Liston.
The prison closed in 2004, and the penitentiary started hosting tours in 2009.
Bobbitt said housing unit four was one of the main attractions of MSP.
"There's some dark beauty about it that people just love. When you walk through you just go wow!" Bobbitt said.
In 2018, MSP had more than 30,000 visitors, but a tornado and a pandemic caused visitation to drop down to 17,000 in 2019, and around 13,000 in 2020. Tours rebounded in 2021 to 26,000 visitors from 49 states, estimating a $2.8 million economic impact for Jefferson City.
The city is hoping with the re-opening of housing unit 4, this year will have an even better economic impact on the city.
"MSP greatly impacts Jefferson cities economy, whether they're eating at restaurants, going to hotels, spending money filling up their tank," Bobbitt said.
The penitentiary's economic success goes past just the Jefferson City area, housing unit four has been featured on ghost adventures, ghost hunters and a variety of other ghost shows.
