Video: Global National’s Shirlee Engel goes to prison for an exclusive look inside the Kingston Penitentiary.
TORONTO – The Kingston Penitentiary may be closed for inmates, but the United Way’s fundraising tours are open for business in October.
And business is booming –online tickets sold out within hours, leaving many people disappointed they won’t see the inside of the eastern Ontario prison.
While the charity’s conditions included no re-sale of tickets, there were a handful of Kijiji users posting wanted ads for the chance inside.
The tours prompted a “high interest and volume of enquiries” that caused the United Way to advise people to check their website, since they won’t be responding to email or phone enquiries.
“This is a limited time opportunity to participate in the United Way tours of one of the oldest prisons in continuous use in the world. Tours…will provide a glimpse into life behind the prison’s historic walls,” reads the United Way’s website.
Watch below: Shirlee Engel‘s vlog on one of the first public tours of Kingston Penitentiary Wednesday morning.
From October 2 to the 20, volunteers from Correctional Services Canada will guide the tour, and cameras are allowed. A full overview of the Kingston Pen tour can be read here.
The last inmate was transferred out of Kingston Pen in September, after the prison was deemed outdated and too expensive to maintain by officials.
Read more: List of notable Kingston Penitentiary inmates
The prison was designated a national historic site in 1990, and what its future holds is unknown.
Some have suggested it be turned into a tourist attraction, an idea that seems to be bolstered by the immense interest in the sold-out tours.
Raw video: A firsthand look inside Canada’s most famous prison.
With a file from The Canadian Press
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