Investor plans to make old Cass County jail a motion picture studio
HARRISONVILLE, Mo. — A year ago, Anthony Murphy purchased the old Cass County jail.
Several ideas floated around as to what to do with the property and he says there’s potential to use it for movie shoots.
From Hollywood to Harrisonville, the vision behind an old county jail is that it becomes the next location for a movie or a show.
“Let’s be honest, it’s cool to buy a jail.”
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Words not too many people can say except for Anthony Murphy.
“I was not looking for a jail, I just saw a property that was a great price per square foot, beautiful downtown,” he said.
He’s the co-owner of CO-CRE8 and recently purchased the old Cass County law enforcement center, which could be filled with lights, camera and hopefully some action.
“You have just about everything you would need for a small town ambiance, plus this could double as military jail, prison, all sorts of things, so there’s a lot of possibility here,” Murphy said.
Murphy said they’ve spent a lot of time cleaning up the jail that dates back to 1960, but they wanted to keep some of its original look in tact.
“We never know what sort of interest people will have on the property,” he said. Netflix might come in and want to do some sort of dystopian future zombie movie where they want really gritty, another person might want it to be a military prison in Russia or a regular prison in Kansas City.”
Murphy said there’s still official business that needs to be done like sealing the deal on the rezoning of the property, but they’re ready to pitch their vision.
“We would like to have it be a collaboration with someone who is able to help put Kansas City and Harrisonville more on the entertainment map,” Murphy said.
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FOX4 reached out to KC Film and they sent this statement.
“Spaces like this are incredibly rare, especially ones that are so open to filmmakers. That level of accessibility will always be attractive to productions. It’s great to be able to add a unique location like this to Kansas City’s offerings. We’re always excited to see the development of assets that will set Kansas City apart.”
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