BY CHUCK VANDENBERG
PCC EDITOR
FORT MADISON - Throngs of people from all over the region trekked to Fort Madison Sunday to tour the now-shuttered, but oldest standing prison west of the Mississippi.
The Iowa State Penitentiary staff, former correctional officers and other volunteers led thousands of people through the prison on Sunday as part of a tour in conjunction with the Department of Corrections.
ISP Warden Patty Wachtendorf played traffic cop on the yards as tours crossed each other on ways to blocks 319, the mess, the gymnasium, and other areas of the prison that was originally built in 1839, even before Iowa became a state in 1846.
Wachtendorf was clearly in her element working the crowds and even working her way down the stretch of attendees, that at one point went down the east side of the property, through the south parking lot, around the south portion of the property near the river, and then fully back up the west wall of the prison.
The tours worked through the visiting area and then by the infirmary. No portions of the facility are in use now, but tables with checker boards and game boards and visiting areas seem to be currently viable even though the building stands eerily empty of offenders. In 2017, under heavy budget cuts, the John Bennett Center was also closed and there's been no word on the future of that section of the facility.
The tour then went through the higher risk areas with single 6x7 cells where some of the worst offenders in the country were held. Tour guides talked briefly about the one-day riot of 1981 where an inmate was murdered and fires and destruction damaged part of the prison. Attendees were also taken through cells that held offenders who had earned privileged status and were able to have cellmates, televisions, buy food, and decorate their cells.
Some of the cells still had stickers and paintings on them including Iowa Hawkeyes and Indianapolis Colts emblems on the walls. The offenders were able to purchase the privileges due to good behavior that resulted in better jobs and more money in their accounts.
Jackie Crable of Burlington, who was visiting with her husband Jerry, said they had been waiting for about 90 minutes and were still about 100 yards from the check-in for the tours at about 10:30. Crable said she had an ironic minor connection to the prison from her younger years and wanted to see what is was like inside.
"We wondered about this place. One time we drove down it was like midnight, we were just teenagers. We drove down in front of it and we were just looking up at it," she said. "And boy the cops were around us, and they escorted us out of Fort Madison. We were just kind of curious."
John Critser of Burlington brought his son to the tour to show him what life was like for those that didn't play by the rules.
"I think it's interesting," he said. "When the guide said there was usually one inmate in a cell and it was small and now in the new facility they are sharing that same space between two offenders. That's was pretty eye-opening."
The tour took people through the yard and showed an old baseball field. The grass had overtaken most of the field, but images of prisoners running around the bases and sitting in the fenced dugouts on summer days were on most people's minds. Several pieces of cloth and gloves still hung on razor wire surrounding the field.
The story was told of the 2005 escape of Martin Moon and Robert Legendre who used a homemade grappling hook and mesh from the furniture in the prison industries program. Moon was returned to ISP after being located sleeping in a car outside of Menard State Prison in Illinois. Legendre was apprehended in Missouri and is in custody there.
The mess hall was also on the tour and a story was told of an inmate who was attacked under a serving line table and was stabbed 63 times before ordered was restored. After the mess hall, the tour went back outside and those in attendance were told of a theater that was still in existence on the third floor above the mess hall where inmates used to put on shows and watch movies. The theater was shut down after the 1981 riot when it suffered damage and the governor closed it down.
Ron Briscoe, of Dallas City, was one of the the people who got a chance to speak with Wachtendorf before and during the tour. He said he came because he's always been interested in the prison and had toured the inside before.
"It's very interesting. I just wanted to know," he said. "I was here years ago when they had the plays, but they shut that down after the riot. It's very interesting and people should get out and see this place," Briscoe said.
The Fort Madison Food Pantry was on hand accepting non-perishable items and most in the line throughout the day were carrying plastic sacks with food items in them. P.A.W. animal shelter was also on hand selling bottled water for $1.
Jean Peiton, the Tourism Director for the City of Fort Madison had those taking the tour sign in and handed out literature. Peiton was asking those who took the tour to use #ThisIsIowa in their posts to trigger counts from the Iowa Economic Development Authority and #HISP which is the Historical Iowa State Penitentiary hashtag.
Warden Wachtendorf chats with Rob Briscoe of Dallas City prior to his turn to the tour the historic prison on Sunday. Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC.
Cameras were aplenty on Sunday as visitors to the old ISP prison tried to capture the feeling of the shuttered facility that held offenders from its construction in 1839 until 2015. This visitor shoots the mess hall from the south entrance. Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC.
Razor wire was still a shining example of harsh realities of life inside the old prison. In several places, cloth and even gloves, were still stuck on the wire. Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC.
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