Before the jailhouse rocks with activity, a farewell tour

Developer Dick Friedman invited the neighbors to visit the Charles Street Jail one last time before the famed big house at Charles Circle becomes a luxury hotel. Many Beacon Hill residents -- as well as Mayor Tom Menino and City Councilor Mike Ross -- turned out last weekend to sip cider, wear hard hats, and peek inside the project next to Massachusetts General Hospital. It was the last chance to see the remaining original cells before the site is sealed and construction begins in earnest. The rock-busting continues for the next 17 months. Friedman, who also developed the Charles Hotel in Cambridge, plans to open his as-yet-unnamed big house, a 300-room hostelry, in the spring of 2007.

Because the old granite structure, built in 1851, is designated a national historic site and since Friedman got tax breaks for renovating the prison, he must preserve the ''jailness" of the property. But don't expect dungeon kitsch. Friedman says he does not want the place to become too gimmicky. ''The bars will remain on the windows, but we're not going to have waiters in striped shirts," he says. Two rows of cells will also be restored.

The old jail was condemned in the 1970s, but the last prisoner didn't leave until the early 1990s.

Visitors were clearly fascinated by the antiquated conditions. Vincent Licenziato, who has lived across Cambridge Street from the jail since 1982, took pictures of the primitive commode in one cell. ''Now, that was a lavatory," he said as he snapped.

MONICA COLLINS