LeBrun drew on John Haviland's landmark Eastern State Penitentiary (
PH126) for the formidable Gothic facade, with perhaps a nod to LeBrun's teacher Thomas Ustick Walter in the central tower above the main block that recalls the demolished Moyamensing Prison. The mass of the walls and the great portcullis seem to communicate, “Abandon Hope, all ye who enter here.” In the cells to the rear, the grim “Pennsylvania system” of solitary confinement was practiced. The building is currently vacant and awaits a new use.