From rooftop to basement, from ceiling to floor, the St. Louis County Jail is the prettiest jail I've ever seen. It makes me want to pack my bags and move right in. With its glorious exterior, which, granted, most residents don't get to see too much of, and its inner light, space, and attention to detail, it's the kind of place we artistic types would be proud to call home. Sid Vicious would have loved to have lived with and killed Nancy Spungeon there. Then he'd have gone in search of a nice TV before settling back in to serve his sentence. If you know of a link to a more attractive hoosegow, let me know. This one's heading my list.
Posted by floridacracker at August 20, 2007 04:03 PMI enjoyed the hospitality of its holding tank (pictured bottom left) for much of an early morning some years ago.
Posted by: marc at August 20, 2007 04:23 PMDid you really? Man, you're lucky. That place is simply gorgeous. Does it have a Starbucks? I'd like to get a cup of coffee and take a tour.
Posted by: Donnah at August 20, 2007 04:26 PMI didn't get the grand tour, so I can't answer to all of that. There were several TVs hanging from the cielings showing closed captioned ESPN. Most people ignored them as the place was co-ed and there was a lot of guys trying to work their charms on the couplefew ladies in there. The chairs were mildly uncomfortable, but you had the option of being locked in a room (cells surrounded the open area) with your own bed if you made enough noise about it, which several guys did.
Posted by: marc at August 20, 2007 04:40 PMWhen the soul is being fed with beauty, it's no wonder love is in the air. The chairs in the holding tank look quite roomy. Of course they have to be plastic at that stage of the incarceration process because of the frequent presence of blood, vomitus, etc on those checking in. I love the various floorings. The checkered one in the phone room is particularly sweet.
Posted by: Donnah at August 20, 2007 04:47 PMHey, that's my old college campus!
Posted by: rg at August 20, 2007 10:38 PMI'm cracking up because our Performing Arts Center and our Museum of Science and Discovery look like Soviet-era apartment buildings in comparison to this. They're not the least bit inspired or inspiring.
I don't know who the jail architect was, but he did splendid work.
Well, that is a nice jail..really nice. Co-ed ???
wow.