The Jefferson City Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) has added a new "Mystery Tour" to the list of Missouri State Penitentiary (MSP) tour options.
The three-hour Mystery Tour will feature a former offender who will shed light on what life was really like behind the walls of the Missouri State Penitentiary.
The CVB has carefully selected "model" inmates who used their time in prison to turn their lives around and become upstanding citizens, according to a news release announcing the new tour. The former inmates will be accompanied by an MSP tour guide and tour guide assistant.
"The Mystery Tour will give visitors two different perspectives of the prison," said Mike Groose, current History Tour guide and former MSP warden. "They will get to hear firsthand accounts of prison life from the inmates, then hear about the history of the facility from the guides. Overall, I think it will be a unique experience for our tour-goers."
Participants will not find out the name of the inmate until the tour begins. The tour will last two hours with an additional hour for questions.
Mystery Tours are available on three dates - June 23, July 28 and Sept. 15 - at 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Tickets are $26 per person (minimum age 10 years old). To make reservations, visit missouripentours.com.
Tours at the Missouri State Penitentiary resumed in March and will continue through the end of November (weather permitting).
MSP operated as a prison from 1836 until September 2004. Since 2009, when the CVB began offering tours of the old penitentiary, the number of tour-takers has grown from approximately 3,000 the first year to 33,000 last year. Last year alone, the MSP tours attracted visitors worldwide for a nearly $3.065 million economic impact.