Polk County Sheriff's Office resurrects 'Haunted Jail Tour' in old downtown Bartow jail
BARTOW, Fla. - The Polk County Sheriff's Office's "Haunted Jail Tour" is back with this year's theme being "Resurrection."
The old jail, located off of North Broadway in downtown Bartow, was built in 1962 and closed in 2000. It was supposed to be demolished by now, but there has been a delay, so the jail was "resurrected."
PCSO's Lt. Justin Carr is the master mind behind this year's tour.
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"We got another year of it, so it's back from the dead," said Carr. "We brought back characters and themes to bring them together and tie them all in. See if we can get a good scare out of people."
The jail is terrifying on its own without all the blood, bodies and creepy clowns.
"It's very eerie up here when you're by yourself or the lights are off. It makes your skin crawl sometimes and that's what makes it so special," said Carr.
It's 100% haunted, so says PCSO Lieutenant Kimber Wiegert, who was the originator of the haunted tour back in 2010.
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"We've unfortunately had a lot of deaths in the building. From old age or from people choking. Some people took their own lives in the building. It has a grim history," said Wiegert.
But the sheriff's office does use its dark past to provide a bright future. The tour raises money for the United Way of Central Florida and last year, the jail raised $60,000.
"It's a big tour, and it's $15 for adults. I don't think there are any other haunts, especially something on this scale that goes for that cheap," said Carr. "We always pride ourselves on being a community event people can come to."
Attendees can get one last scare in and enjoy a unique piece of history before it's gone. The tours run for four nights starting Friday, Oct. 20 and Saturday, Oct. 21 from 6:30-10:30 p.m.
Tickets are $15 per adult and $5 for children under 10.
If you think it'll be too scary for the little ones, it's okay because there will also be a street carnival with arts and crafts booths, a bounce house and more.