Lens-Artists Challenge #168 – Seen Better Days

The photo challenge from Tina this week is to post shots of things or places that have ‘seen better days’. One place that I visited a while back was the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio. It closed way back in 1990 and it has truly seen better days. An effort is being made to repair and restore the historic structure. Some of the rooms were in pretty bad shape. This was the prison where they filmed the movie “The Shawshank Redemption” so there were areas that were cleaned up.

The place looks amazing as you drive up to the entrance.

Cozy fireplace in the administrative area.

It felt a little eerie walking thru some of the empty rooms…

Crazy to think what this place was like with a full house of inmates…ugh!

About this time, I was thinking I probably should have gotten a tetanus shot before I came here 🙂

Plenty of work ahead for those who stepped up to try and save this historic old place. It truly is an impressive structure and I hope they can stay the course and get it done. I think a return trip is in order to see how much progress they’ve made since my last visit. Here’s a link to their site if you’re interested in more info and/or want to plan a visit.

Thanks to Tina of Travels and Trifles for the photo challenge theme this week.