Constantly topping the list of people’s favourite movies ever, now super-fans of ”The Shawshank Redemption” can tour the prison drama’s filming locations in northern Ohio.
Set in and around the town of Mansfield, located close to Cleveland, the guided excursion, which debuted last month, takes passengers to 10 spots that appeared in the movie before ending in a tour of the Ohio State Reformatory, the former Romanesque-style prison that played the fictional Maine prison in the film.
The bus tours are available on Saturdays and Sundays into early September; tickets are $99/87e per person for the 4.5-hour experience (no kids under age 13 allowed).
A less expensive option is the “Hollywood Meets History” guided tour of the site, exploring the spaces the filmmakers used for the room where Tim Robbins’s Andy Dufresne conducted his money-laundering operation, the warden’s office, the hostel bedroom where one of the film’s most devastating scenes involving Brooks (James Whitmore), Shawshank’s oldest inmate was filmed and the prisoners’ yard.
You’ll also see lots of cells (keep an eye out for escape tunnels) and learn about the place’s real-life history, starting with its 1896 opening as an institution dedicated to rehabilitating the incarcerated and ending with its court-ordered closure in 1990 due to inhumane conditions.
Go to ShawshankTrail.com to follow the driving route.
For more information on tours, special events, and ghost-hunting evenings at the Ohio State Reformatory or to purchase tickets, go to MRPS.org.
