It served as a lockup for the Region’s most notorious criminals and has been the site of a star-studded movie set. Now, it’s under scrutiny from the state.
The Old Sheriff’s House and Jail remains barred to the public as its caretakers work to resolve a unique predicament facing the 141-year-old historic structure in downtown Crown Point.
A sign is posted on the locked door explaining the situation, and Sandy Boyd, president of the Old Sheriff’s House Foundation, has been making social media posts and videos updating the public.
The side of the former Lake County Jail shows barred windows and stately red brick. (Anna Ortiz/Post-Tribune)
“We have had to cancel a lot of events this year already because we don’t have a timeline,” Boyd said. “Even things scheduled for September we have had to cancel because of this.”
Historic and haunted tours, which have been ongoing for the past 20 years, are also on pause.
David Hosick, director of public affairs for the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, said the state gave notice of the building violation code in October 2023. The jail’s caretakers received the news after they applied for an entertainment/amusement permit for their annual haunted house attraction “Criminally Insane,” which has been running for 11 years, according to Boyd.
Sandy Boyd (left), president of the Old Sheriff’s House Foundation, and Jacquie Thompson (right), vice president of the Old Sheriff’s House Foundation, sit on the steps of the historic building. While the public is not able to go inside, volunteers are permitted to enter. (Anna Ortiz/Post-Tribune)
“They said I needed a change of occupancy,” Boyd said. “Because this is still zoned as a jail, and they need it to be zoned as a museum. So they said, ‘We will give you 90 days.’ And at that time, we were in the middle of a haunted house. Then we hired a structural engineer and code consultant out of Indianapolis. But 90 days came up, and the state said, ‘You missed your 90 days, you can’t open to the public or we will have sanctions put on you.’”
The code in question — 675 IAC 12-4-11(b) — states “there can be no change in the use of a building that would cause it to be classified with a different occupancy group without complying with the commission rules or fitting certain provisions.”
“The bottom line is the building is not zoned to serve the purpose they want to serve,” Hosick said.
Sandy Boyd (left), president of the Old Sheriff’s House Foundation, and Jacquie Thompson, vice president of the Old Sheriff’s House Foundation, play a game of cards in John Dillinger’s old cell. (Anna Ortiz/Post-Tribune)
However, this doesn’t entirely pause restoration efforts, which are almost always ongoing. Volunteers can still go into the building while it’s restricted to the public, Boyd said.
The two-story brick and stone building was built in 1882 as the first permanent sheriff’s residence and adjoining jail. As the city grew, it expanded until it had 150 cells, maximum security accommodations, an institutional kitchen, food storage, heating and cooling systems, a barber shop and a garage.
During its time as a jail, it grew to infamy as the site of John Dillinger’s escape in 1934. It later became a movie set for a movie about Dillinger titled “Public Enemies,” starring Johnny Depp. The building stopped operating as a jail in the mid-70s and was acquired by the Old Sheriff’s House Foundation, Inc., which helped it get placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
“We have to open; we can’t let this history go over paperwork,” Boyd said. “We understand it’s about safety, and about community. We get that and we want to be as safe as possible. To say we can’t open — that’s just not an option. If we have to get a variance, that’s okay. We understand progress isn’t always quick. But we have to make our money through fundraising, tours, and events. To have our doors closed and not having funds coming in, (it) is hard for us to be able to continue work on the restoration of this building. It’s an important part of Crown Point history and its present.”
Jacquie Thompson, vice president of the Old Sheriff’s House Foundation, has been volunteering for about nine years and feels a sense of shared community pride tied to the location.
“This is my home away from home,” Thompson said. “It’s a safe place. The history is just so amazing. I don’t know how to describe my feeling for the jail. I am always here with Sandy. It’s a beautiful building. It’s my happy place. I like to show it off and I like to brag about it a lot to anyone who will listen.”
She said this situation has been worrying for herself and other volunteers.
“I felt shocked, confused,” Thompson said. “We don’t understand how we are having to go through this. It hasn’t been a functioning jail since ’76 or ’75, now there’s an issue with it being zoned as a jail. We have done so much work over the years, it’s just a shame that all of a sudden we are having these issues. I feel like we are being treated as a big place running hundreds of people a week through here. But that’s not true — we are a small place. We don’t understand it and why it’s happening.”
In February, Dennis Bradshaw of Bradshaw Consulting, reached out to the code enforcement department, who informed him that the owner of the building must hire a state-licensed architect or engineer and submit plans that show code compliance for the intended use to the state plan review board.
They were also ordered to obtain local building permits to perform the work and a certificate of occupancy for the local building department. Hosick said there was a reinspection on May 5th, but the required actions had not been done yet.
On May 8, a meeting was held with Mayor Pete Land and his staff. While the actions needed must be taken at a state level, Land said the city is supportive of the historic site.
“The City will continue to support Sandy and her team’s efforts, and we will assist in any way we can to help preserve the legacy of the Old Sheriff’s House and Jail,” Land said.
The code consultant hired by the Old Sheriff’s House Foundation, Inc. has indicated to the city that the owners will be filing for the proper variances, Hosick confirmed.
“If approved, the building will be allowed to open as the owners intend,” Hosick said. “No violations or closure orders have been issued through this process.”
Boyd said she hopes the jail can get on the agenda for the June 4 meeting of the Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission, where the code consultant will go and represent the interests of the historic building.
“We still cannot open,” Boyd said. “This is all paperwork. This has nothing to do with the building itself, it’s not a structural issue, or a safety issue as far as the building goes. And for us, the priority of every event is always safety. We are always present and careful. We want everyone to enjoy the history and be involved and fall in love with its history just like we did. We have been open for more than 20 years, so this is frustrating. But we will do everything we can to be able to open to the public again.”
Boyd said if things don’t go as hoped, she has researched the option of claiming hardship, in which she said she has written a letter to the state fire commission requesting a variance.
“We have criminal justice students come visit, we have structural engineer students come through — because the way it was built was extraordinary at the time,” Boyd said. “We talk to John Dillinger fans and we have paranormal fans. This reaches so many different people with so many different interests. To not be able to open would be criminal.”
Anna Ortiz is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
