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By OLIVER MOORE
It used to house prisoners behind the walls of its imposing 19th-century façade. But now the landmark building popularly known as the Don Jail appears set to get a new lease on life. The legendary institution's dank cells, which have been sitting vacant for years, will be converted into offices as part of a proposed redevelopment of the jail site at Broadview Avenue and Gerrard Street East.
Hundreds of condo units have been planned within a stone's throw of the building, which is to be incorporated into a new 504-bed hospital run by Bridgepoint Health.
Once redeveloped, the building's grand interiors, described by one architect as "Harry Potter-like," will be open to the public for the first time in decades. And those who pass under the keystone depicting Old Man Time can do so secure in the knowledge that they won't be banged up for life, or swing lifeless from the gallows.
"We were hanging people there until 1962," historian Bruce Bell says, noting that Canadians showed an unusual propensity for the gallows and became recognized experts in that method of execution.
"They used to execute children there, 12-year-old boys," he adds. "I don't see how we can erase all that."
Mr. Bell says he is glad that the historic building may be put back into use.
But other heritage advocates are raising concerns about the proposed changes to the site, which Bridgepoint hopes to complete within five years.
Scores of trees will be planted to make the site more park-like, and set to vanish from the scene is the newer and still-operational Toronto Jail building.
In place of the old jail, built in the 1950s next to the old prison, and the old Riverdale Hospital, operated by Bridgepoint, will be a bigger hospital, a second medical building for seniors or long-term care and three eight-to-12-storey condominium buildings.
The plan to eliminate the active jail is popular -- it's the ultimate gentrification project for a neighbourhood to lose a prison.
Nearby residents are happy that the overcrowded, notoriously brutal and disease-ridden jail will finally empty and be demolished, though the provincial government will not reveal a firm date for that to happen. (Julia Noonan, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, says a replacement facility will be built, though a site hasn't been chosen yet.)
But the destruction of the hospital building is generating more concern. The iconic building, dubbed "the half-round" because of its shape, has many supporters in the community who don't want to see it destroyed. Some also object to the size of its proposed replacement. The new structure will be 12 industrial storeys -- the equivalent in height to a 17-storey residential building.
"It was a surprise. I thought I was going to hear that the jail was saved. Hurrah. And then there's this sleight of hand and this monstrosity slipped in," says Ron Fletcher, president of the Riverdale Historical Society.
"It's a very tall building which will dwarf the Don Jail. There'll be no symmetry to it, there'll be the jail on one side and this hospital towering over it."
Bridgepoint mandarins got mixed reviews last month when they made public their plans for the site, which the organization now owns.
Mr. Fletcher says a lot of the proposals were new to him, particularly the condos. "They talk about a process of consultation with the community and there is a historical society with over 100 members in Riverdale and they never talked to us," he says.
Marian Walsh, president and CEO of Bridgepoint Health, insists that the condos have been discussed "quite openly" as part of the plan.
Residents who packed a recent community meeting were especially dubious at the insistence that the original Riverdale Hospital couldn't be saved, and several spoke in defence of the building.
But Frank Lewinberg, founding partner of design firm Urban Strategies, insisted that the building can't be kept. He blamed the decades-old design for not allowing proper air circulation and added that the ceilings are too low for the building to be retrofitted to modern hospital standards.
The only way to use the building, he said, would be to strip it to its frame and build again, a proposal he suggested was implausible.
That was a surprise to David Chui, a Riverdale resident and architect whose firm has some experience reviving old buildings.
"There's something we're missing," he says. "I'm scratching my head and trying to figure it out. I think it's so much easier for a developer to demolish and build four new units. To demolish takes a week."
City Councillor Paula Fletcher calls the area -- which also includes a public library branch and several smaller buildings,
one of them a clubhouse for a lawn-bowling group -- "one of the most complicated sites going. You've got heritage buildings,
you've got a jail, you've got a hospital, you've got a library. And these are all public buildings."
Ms. Walsh says Bridgepoint is committed to addressing community concerns, if possible, and says the proposals would be taken
back to the community in the fall. But she warns that people intent on saving the "half-round" may be blind to the overarching
logic of the redevelopment project. The desire to save an architectural milestone is understandable, she says, and they have
done all they can to incorporate it, but it comes second to the needs of building a top-notch hospital.
If that is the case, Mr. Chui says, the presenters made a fundamental mistake in holding the meeting in a building they were planning to raze.
"This meeting was held in the auditorium of the building," he says. "And we looked around and said, 'This is better than my house.' "
Riverdale ripe for condo conversion: Globe and Mail, June 17th, 2005.
Argument for demolition of Riverdale: bad plumbing?: National Post, Nov 11th, 2005.
Demolition of significant modern buildings picks up momentum: Globe and Mail, Nov. 26th, 2005.
History vs Healthcare? Or not...?: Eye, Dec. 8th, 2005.
Debate swirls around hospital's fate at Council meeting.: National Post, Jan. 18th, 2006
Riverdale Hospital for wrecking?: Star, Jan. 25th, 2006
Keep historic half-round around as it is: Star, Jan. 26th, 2006.
Demolition plan roundly criticized: National Post, Feb. 2nd, 2006.
Development arguments wanting for logic: Now, Feb. 9, 2006.
Demolition is environmentally unconscienable: National Post, Feb. 17th, 2006.
Locals want to know: Why give land away?: National Post, March 11th, 2006.
Citizens catch Bridgepoint hi-jinx: Now, March 16th, 2006.
Progressives on Council fumble the Bridgepoint scheme: Now, March 23rd, 2006.
Save Riverdale
Toronto Architectural Conservancy
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