Vacant Michigan prison awaits reuse as movie set

DETROIT - A film crew may soon find itself in a mothballed Michigan prison, where it is likely to be treated more graciously than most people who spent time there.

The 80-year-old Southern Michigan Correctional Facility in Jackson, once part of the world's largest walled prison, has been empty since budget cuts forced its closure last year. But the head of the state's film commission and several Department of Corrections staff members recently gave a tour of the prison to a Hollywood movie producer whose latest script is set in a prison, according to a department spokesman, Russ Marlan.

Vacant prisons that look authentic on screen are few and far between, Marlan said. But southern Michigan has thick bars on the cells, gun towers, and 40-foot brick perimeter walls. "He seemed very interested," Marlan said of the producer, whom he would not identify.

Fortunately - for Hollywood, at least - Michigan has no shortage of empty buildings just waiting for the right role. The director Michael Bay gave Detroit's derelict Michigan Center Station, an 18-story train station last used for its intended purpose in 1988, a starring role in "Transformers" and "The Island."

And as of April 7, Michigan has new tax credits that officials say make it the most financially appealing state for moviemaking. "I'm surrounded by scripts," said Janet Lockwood, director of the Michigan Film Office.

The tax credits were created to attract film and television producers and the jobs they bring.