Backers Make New Pitch For Rejected Folsom Prison Museum Renovation
FOLSOM (CBS13) — Another attempt at history in the making at Folsom prison is moving through the state legislature.
Backers of a privately funded 30,000-square-foot museum are hoping big companies in the area such as Hewlett-Packard and Intel will pitch in.
Johnny Cash made history performing "Folsom Prison Blues" at the prison, but 50 years later, Folsom Prison fans are in for a new tune.
"A lot of people don't know what goes on inside a prison and we want to be able to show them almost up to the point of taking them inside the prison," said Joel Valencia.
He's part of a team of retired prison guards charged with building it, replacing the aged museum, which he says has outgrown itself. He's dedicated 25 years of his life as a correctional officer, and now he wants to give tourists something to brag about.
"People don't know that all the license plates in California are made in Folsom Prison," he said.
The museum would house valuables from inmate manufactured guns and old canes, used way before the days of batons.
The stories date back to the beginning of the prison, one of the first maximum security prisons back in 1880.
The biggest challenge he faces is winning a 50-year lease from the state on a 15-acres piece of land on prison grounds.
Assemblywoman Beth Gaines' bill was vetoed last year, but she feels like the goal is clear this time.
In July, they'll celebrate 135 years in the Folsom Prison, a party that'll kick-off fundraising, and in the process play up some of the prison's biggest hits.