After the recent exposé on how the decision to hand interim management of Boggo Road Gaol to an anti-volunteer/anti-competition small businessman resulted in the old gaol becoming southeast Queensland’s most expensive heritage site to visit, I thought I’d take a look at how Boggo Road stacks up Australia-wide. The results are in the table below.
There are plenty of old prisons across the country, and some of the larger ones you can visit are listed below. This not only shows how much it costs to get inside them, but also how long you can stay and what there is to do and see. Unfortunately, Boggo Road (the only place on the list not run on a not-for-profit basis) comes out very much the worst again.
The emerging and obvious question is: Why is Boggo Road Gaol so expensive to visit when'Jack' Sim of Ghost Tours Pty Ltd was handed this publicly-owned place on a platter, RENT-FREE?
AUSTRALIAN HERITAGE GAOLS – WHAT YOU PAY AND WHAT YOU GET | ||||
Price (adult) | What you get | How long? | Where the money goes | |
PORT ARTHUR | $32 (Bronze Pass) | Access to more than 30 historic buildings; guided walking tour; harbour cruise; interactive Visitor Centre experiences, Museum and Convict Study Centre, Access to the Convict Water Supply Trail, the Dockyard and the Coal Mines Historic Site at Saltwater River | 5 hours (valid for two days) | Running the site (not-for-profit) |
BOGGO ROAD GAOL | $25 | Tour of part of one cellblock, NO displays | 2 hours | Personal profit |
OLD MELBOURNE GAOL | $25 | Gaol; historic Magistrate's Court; former Police City Watch House Live performances of Ned Kelly Story, trial re-enactments, Watch House Experience | All day | Running the site (not-for-profit) |
FREMANTLE PRISON | $19 | Guided tour, prison art gallery, prison museum, convict museum | All day | Running the site (not-for-profit) |
ADELAIDE GAOL | $18 | Guided tour; museum; interactive displays | All day | Running the site (not-for-profit) |
MAITLAND GAOL | $17 | Self-guided audio tours | All day | Running the site (not-for-profit) |
J WARD (ARARAT) | $16 | Guided tours, displays | All day | Running the site (not-for-profit) |
OLD DUBBO GAOL | $15 | Self-guided tour of whole site; museum, animatronic models and holographic displays | All day | Running the site (not-for-profit) |
GEELONG GAOL | $10 | Displays | All day | Running the site (not-for-profit) |
HOBART PENITENTIARY CHAPEL | $10 | Guided tours, displays | All day | Running the site (not-for-profit) |
OLD WENTWORTH GAOL | $8 | Guided tours, displays | All day | Running the site (not-for-profit) |