Tour of the Old Don Jail
May. 26th, 2013 07:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rusty_armourOne of my wishes came true today! Thanks to Doors Open Toronto, I was able to take a tour of the Old Don Jail. I have a particular interest in this building because it's the setting for my original fiction project. The jail was closed down in 1977, and the public doesn't have a lot of opportunities to see it. Well, there were a bunch of tours (and even ghost walks) in 2009 before Bridgepoint Health started its renovation project, and I stupidly missed all of it. In my defence, I hadn't had the idea for my crazy original fiction project yet.
Here's a very quick history lesson for anyone who's interested. The Old Don Jail opened in 1864 and is one of the oldest intact pre-Confederation structures in Toronto. It was designed by William Thomas in the Italianate style and was considered to be modern and humane when it was first built. With its skylight in the rotunda, and the glass floor, the jail provided natural light for its prisoners. Unfortunately, overcrowding became the norm, and politicians in the twentieth century tried to close it down because of its terrible conditions. The last executions in Canada (the hanging of Ronald Turpin and Arthur Lucas) were performed at the Old Don Jail on December 11, 1962. The Old Don Jail is now Bridgepoint Hospital's Administration Building, but, thankfully, 20% of the original building has been preserved, including the original exterior, the beautiful rotunda, the gallows, and some of the prison cells.
View of the exterior of the Old Don Jail
Some other exterior views
Main entrance to the Old Don Jail
Keystone that is thought to be Father Time
Close up of one of the columns in the main entrance portico. The grooves
are believed to represent a worm-eaten look (e.g. the ravages of time). Looks
like Howard from Last of the Summer Wine was right about stoneworm after all.
One of the cell wings that has been converted into office space
One of the cells that have been converted into an office
Cell wing with original cells intact
Closer view of some open cells
Cell with bed. Notice how tiny the cell is.
Closer view of bed inside the cell
View under the rotunda's glass floor
Entrance to the gallows. Hangings began to
take place in this indoor chamber in 1908.
The gallows
Gallows' staircase
Shots inside the rotunda. The rotunda was meant to intimidate
prisoners. Prisoners were sometimes whipped here and there
have been alleged sightings of a female spirit -- a woman who
supposedly hanged herself in her cell.
Rotunda walkways
One of the wrought-iron dragons supporting a walkway
Rotunda's glass floor
Rotunda ceiling
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no subject
Date: 2013-05-27 02:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-05-27 05:01 pm (UTC)Yeah, I don't know how comfortable I'd be working in one of those offices either, especially at night. My sister also pointed out how cramped they must be, unless they found a way to make them larger than the original cell size.
The exterior is beautiful and so are the views of the rotunda, glass floor, decorative details and so on.
I'm glad the architectural beauty came across in the photos. It really is an amazing building.
Oh, and by now I'm getting really curious about your original fiction project. :)
Well, it's probably going to be a while before I finish it (especially given the rate at which I'm writing and the state it's in), but I do plan to finish it at some point. I haven't really said much about it because the idea is pretty out there, and I'm afraid it will sound stupid if I try to describe it to anyone. *g*
no subject
Date: 2013-05-27 08:09 am (UTC)I look forward to hearing more about your original fic project.
no subject
Date: 2013-05-27 07:27 pm (UTC)It is pretty amazing that some of the nicest looking buildings were used for terrible purposes. At least something positive is coming out of the Old Don Jail now. I'm glad they preserved it -- not just because of its beauty but the history it tells.
I look forward to hearing more about your original fic project.
It may not be as exciting as it sounds. Actually, right now it's a pretty big mess, and I haven't gotten nearly as far as I'd like. However, I'm determined to finish it some time in the nearish future. As I said to
no subject
Date: 2013-05-27 01:56 pm (UTC)You had a very busy weekend! Are you pooped today?
no subject
Date: 2013-05-28 03:28 pm (UTC)Thank you muchly! I'm glad you like them! :-)
It looks beautiful now, but yeah, horrifyingly small cells. I wonder if the high ceilings helped ward off claustrophobia?
That's a really good question. I hadn't thought of that. I'm trying to remember if the old jail that I visited in Ottawa also had high ceilings in its cells. In any case, your theory certainly makes sense.
You'd have to keep anything you owned under the bed.
Assuming you had much with you to begin with. Some prisoners were only in the cells for a short period of time, though there were others in there for much longer. Unfortunately, you might also get entire families stuck in one of those cells...
Stunning to think that the gallows were still being used in the sixties.
Yeah, that amazes me as well. Before I began learning more about Canadian jails, I assumed that we'd stopped hanging people by about the twenties or thirties.
You had a very busy weekend! Are you pooped today?
I was pretty pooped, which is one reason why I'm only getting around to responding to your comment now. I didn't even make it online last night. *g*
no subject
Date: 2013-05-27 05:16 pm (UTC)Thank you so much for sharing! ♥
no subject
Date: 2013-05-28 04:45 pm (UTC)I'm glad you like it,
I'm glad they have found a new use for it, although I hope that the office space is bigger than a single cell, because those jail cells look very claustrophobic. :/
I'm guessing they've found a way to create more space. Either that or this office space is being used mostly for storage.
Thank you so much for sharing! ♥
No problem! I'm happy you enjoyed this post! :-D
no subject
Date: 2013-05-28 11:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-05-28 04:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-05-29 09:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-05-30 02:55 am (UTC)Thank you very much,
It is an architecturally attractive building, especially the main entrance.
The main entrance is pretty amazing, isn't it? I bet a lot of people wouldn't think it was a jail at first glance.
The rest of the building looks like a school I think.
I hadn't thought of that before, but I see what you mean. That rectangular building containing the cells does look like a school.
I like the rotunda's glass floor and the dragon.
Those are among my favourite features too. :-)
I don't want to imagine what it must have been like to be locked up in one of those tiny cells.
I would be pretty bad, even if you weren't claustrophobic. I was briefly tempted to step inside of one of the cells and then rethought the idea. *g*
Thanks for posting.
I was only too happy to share. Thanks for reading. :-)
no subject
Date: 2013-05-29 09:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-05-30 03:32 am (UTC)Me too. I would definitely be suffering from claustrophobia.
The gllows bit is really claustraphobic too but I think if the blindfolded them it wouldn't matter how it looked?
A hood would be placed over the prisoner's head, so he wouldn't be able to see anything. However, I don't think claustrophobia would be your top concern if you were facing the hangman's noose...
I love history!
I'm happy to hear it! I've always found it fascinating as well! :-)
no subject
Date: 2013-06-08 01:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-09 02:11 am (UTC)