JOLIET, IL - The world-famous Old Joliet Prison opens for public tours starting Saturday, March 16, and this week, Joliet Area Historical Museum officials got a tremendous boost to their marketing efforts. A tour group from China purchased a block of 200 admission tickets.

Museum director Greg Peerbolte told Joliet Patch that this week's purchase was unexpected, but it's tremendous news. He said it reaffirms his long-held belief that the Old Joliet Prison property will become a well-known international tourist destination. The limestone fortress that dates back to 1858 is best known for its role in the classic movie, "Blues Brothers." The prison was closed in 2002. Then it remained empty and fell into neglect over the past 15 years. Last year, the city of Joliet and the museum teamed up to mount a huge cleanup and restoration.

Their efforts culminated with the Great Joliet Prison Break-In, a special event fund-raiser inside the prison walls that raised more than $130,000 for ongoing building restoration efforts and drew a crowd of 3,500 people who had a great time. Afterward, the museum operated a limited tour schedule in September and October.

Peerbolte told Joliet Patch that the bulk sale for the 200 tickets came through China Pro, which is a marketing company in the Great Lakes region that promotes U.S. destinations to Chinese tourists. China Pro worked with Central Tours to buy the Joliet Prison tickets.

"They bought 200 tickets for tours," Peerbolte told Patch this week. "It's an international investment in the east side of Joliet.

"That's big because they bought the ticket block, and they're going to be actively marketing this destination throughout China."

Image via John Ferak/Joliet Patch Editor In recent days, the Joliet Area Historical Museum has kicked up its social media marketing campaign, announcing that prison tours begin on March 16. The tours will continue through October. Peerbolte said the tours will take place on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and Sundays. The museum caps the tours to about 30 visitors at a time.

So far, the word is getting out - around the world. The Joliet museum has already sold tickets for 2019 spring and summer tourists from The Netherlands, Ireland, United Kingdom, Switzerland and France, Peerbolte said.

