The state prison's history included a five-day riot by 2,600 inmates and prisoner Dale Remling escaping from the facility by helicopter in 1975. Cell Block 7 shut down prison operations in 2007.

Jackson’s Ella Sharp Museum operates Cell Block 7 for the state. It fits well with the museum’s mission of presenting both art and history, said Erik Lyman, museum communications coordinator.

Heyns spoke of embracing Jackson's history, not shunning it, during media day at the Cell Block 7 Prison Museum at the State Prison of Southern Michigan on Cooper Street on Monday, June 23.

Cell Block 7, just one piece of a sprawling complex that once reigned as the world’s largest walled prison, was decommissioned in 2007. The shuttered facility took on new life as a museum in 2014.

Governor of Michigan John Bagley said in 1873, "If there is a dreary spot upon the face of the earth, it is inside the walls of the Jackson Prison." The quote is just an iota of the history ...

Cell Block 7 is the biggest prison block in the Jackson prison complex. Standing five stories high, it could hold 500 prisoners. The Michigan Department of Corrections is glad the building is ...