The Old Idaho Penitentiary

The place is The Old Idaho Penitentiary. The context and purpose for the display is to be educational for the most part. I think its also for entertainment, it's rumored that the penitentiary is haunted so that adds excitement and interest to the place. It's also meant as a historical site that used to be of regular function for holding criminals, but no longer does. They are communicating the old ways of dealing with criminals as well as some history of Idaho that isn't about the Oregon Trail and Native Americans.
There is a lot of old, rusting metal. There are a lot of different colors and oddly decorated areas. There is pealing paint. Lots of small spaces. Not a lot of plant life, mostly just rocks and sand, some weeds and grass, but not much. There are certain rooms with lots of information about specific inmates and certain areas of the prison like the women's prison and where solitary confinement was. Sometimes they give a brief history of the people who were involved the the space. They also keep a record of the deaths that occurred.
My first impression is that it's very intimidating. You feel very closed in in a lot of spaces. There are area that are maintained that are for just reading information, then there are areas that aren't maintained and just preserved how they are and left to change with age. I didn't really want to be loud at all, for the feeling that I might disturb someone, even though there weren't really any people there.
A description of a cell is pealing paint, dirty, full of drawings and graffiti, bunk beds, toilet, shelf, multicolored walls.
I would describe it as eerie. I would say that it looks as old as it is. It's very rusted and peeling. lots of metal and cement. Lots of old photos and information.
Old, dirty, informative, silencing.
There are a lot of descriptions and paragraphs about the rooms that you enter. There are selected stories about certain events and people. The rooms are specified and almost themed.
The objects are all, if not mostly  all, artifacts and not artificial.
I think the meaning is just to kind of shed light on some not so great things that happened here. People forget that Idaho hasn't always been as safe as it is now. Things haven't always been the way they are now. I think that the exhibit just displays a little bit of dark history from the area.
I don't think that finances are an issue in the display, it's all historical and maintenance that is really involved with the prison. I think the only real things they had to consider in the display was that they had to include the families of the prisoners in the decision to display these people in the exhibit.
I think the intended audience is definitely not meant for children. The area is meant for those of a more mature audience. I don't think that it's really safe for kids to be in both informatively and physically. I thinks its really just meant for older people who enjoy the history and rumors of it. I think that it's very effective, especially since it wasn't always an exhibit.