Fremantle Prison open for public tours

The gates of Fremantle Prison will be opened this Friday to allow public tours of the historic gaol for the first time. 

Heritage Minister Jim McGinty today announced that the tour operator Fremantle Prison Guardians had been selected to conduct tours of the gaol - which was first built to hold convicts in the 1850s. 

"It seems appropriate that the start of public tours of the prison should occur in time for the Australia Day long weekend - which serves to remind us of the nation's beginnings as a penal colony," Mr McGinty said. 

"Just a few months after the last inmate left the cells of Fremantle Prison, the people of Western Australia will have the opportunity to see first-hand the establishment which served as the State's main prison for more than 130 years. 

"Fremantle Prison is indelibly linked to the history of Western Australia and the State Government is committed to its conservation and ensuring that present and future Western Australians will have the opportunity to marvel at the complex."

Mr McGinty said the prison had recently become one of the first entries on Western Australia's Register of Heritage Places. 

The Minister said Fremantle Prison Guardians was a West Australian company headed by Elizabeth Hogg. 

"Elizabeth has been heavily involved in the State's tourism industry since the late 1970s and at present is president of the Tour Guides Association and operates the successful Fremantle Tram Tours. 

"It is also interesting to note that Elizabeth's father was a warder at Fremantle prison." 

Mr McGinty said Fremantle Prison Guardians would lease part of the prison gatehouse and hold a licence to conduct tours over the remainder of the complex. 

A range of admission fees had been developed for the tours - including charges of $20 for family groups and $2 for school children. 

"Ideally we would like to allow free access to the prison; however, the costs associated with maintaining the complex dictate the need for an entry fee," Mr McGinty said. 

It had been estimated that the cost of maintaining the prison in its present form - excluding any refurbishment - would be around $500,000 annually. 

Mr McGinty said that apart from the introduction of the tours, work was also continuing in finding a number of major long-term uses for the prison. 

"The prison will eventually be integrated into Fremantle's cultural and commercial life by using parts of the complex for a variety of purposes - such as an arts and crafts centre, a backpackers' hostel or education facility," he said.

"A management plan is being prepared and will take into account the views of the Fremantle community." 

Mr McGinty said he was confident that the end result would be a complex that contained a unique blend of history and community activity.