Go straight to jail, right after you tour the rest of Fredericton's science centre
Science East now offering formal tours of 1840s jail cells in its basement
For just $8, you can spend a little time in jail.
That's how much Science East, a science education centre in downtown Fredericton, is charging for tours of its basement.
The 181-year-old cells — which were used for generations to hold prisoners, including an infamous serial killer — still exist.
The atmosphere is in stark contrast to what Michelle Roy, the education co-ordinator at Science East and the facility's historian, describes as the "very colourful" environment in most of the centre.
"Everything [upstairs] is very hands-on science learning for the kids to play with — there's always a bunch of laughter upstairs, " she said.
"Downstairs is a little more gloomy, as people describe it. Down here is the solitary confinement cells, so it's pretty dark. It's pretty cold and humid down here."
From 1842 until 1996, the whole building served as the York County Jail. Science East repurposed the building for children's science education in 1999.
Despite the fresh coat of paint, there are still tell-tale signs of the building's former life upstairs, not least of which include the iron jail-cell doors adorning the entrance to the washrooms.
Isolation cells still in place
But it's in the centre's basement where the old jail remains intact.
Isolation cells and heavy iron doors are still in place. In the past, Roy said, visitors could access the basement cells for a peek, but a recent viral video sparked the idea for formal tours.
A true crime podcaster posted a video to TikTok about the jail, and how it had housed serial killer Allan Legere. That video led curious adults to wonder what was downstairs.
"We only recently decided to start offering tours to the public, especially adults," said Roy. "We realized that is really a great demand for that knowledge."
The tour includes the cell where Legere, often dubbed the "Monster of the Miramichi," was held during his 1991 trial at the Burton courthouse, near Fredericton, after his recapture.
Legere had escaped custody in May 1989 while serving time in Renous prison for the murder of shopkeeper John Glendenning and the beating of Mary Glendenning, his wife. He brutally murdered four people during the 201-day manhunt to recapture him.
"They were so worried about him escaping again they did about $1 million in security measures and renovations," said Roy. "They bricked up windows so he wouldn't be able to see outside. They had six staff on at all times — two RCMP officers, two correctional officers and two sheriff officers."
Today in that same cell stands a pair of learning kiosks dedicated to explaining the science of DNA and its use in criminal investigations. Legere was one of the first people in Canada to be convicted using DNA evidence.
Visitor can also trace their fingers along the carvings that prisoners etched into the walls over the decades.
There are plenty of stories of prisoners past, including one of a man who would escape through a coal chute to visit his girlfriend at night but return to his cell by morning.
Visitors can retrace the final walk that some prisoners took on their way to the gallows, in the years before capital punishment was abolished in Canada.
The route now leads through a children's playground, but Roy said that is not where people were hanged.
"A lot of people do think it's the kids playing area, but that was actually the jail yard for the prisoners to go into," said Roy. "It's actually our parking lot."
Roy said it's important to recognize the grim and final moments that some inmates experienced.
"Often you get a weird sensation coming down here," said Roy. "You can see a lot of last things that prisoners would have seen in their last moments, and it gives you a wave of emotions and feelings."
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