The Missouri State Penitentiary will reopen opens its doors for public tours on Tuesday, March 1.

In 2004, the Missouri State Penitentiary (MSP) was decommissioned; and in May of 2009, the Jefferson City Convention and Visitors Bureau began offering tours of the historic site to the public.  In the past two years more than 15,000 people have seen what life was like "inside the walls."

"We are really looking forward to starting the 2011 tour season," said Steve Picker, executive director of the Bureau.  "The past two years have been very successful.  We've seen incredible growth from 2009 to 2010 and we expect that growth to continue in 2011."

To kick off this year's tours, the Bureau will host an event on Tuesday, March 1.  A special tour for members of the media will start at 8:30 a.m. followed by a ribbon cutting at 11 a.m. in front of A Hall/Housing Unit 4.
 

The public event will begin with a short welcome ceremony and will conclude with a reception and tours of A Hall.  Souvenirs and tickets will be sold during the event and anyone who purchases a tour ticket on March 1 will receive a complimentary miniature billy club souvenir. 
 

This year the Jefferson City Convention and Visitors Bureau will not only offer a two hour historic tour and a four hour in-depth tour of the MSP, but also will offer  twilight tours, specialty history tours, photography tours, ghost hunt tours, ghost tours and paranormal investigations.   An overview of these tours will be given during the kickoff event. 
 

For more information, go to www.MissouriPenTours.com.