Discover Top Posts Tagged with #prison chapel

Lost - 2015

Millbrook Correctional Centre once sat atop a hill with a sprawling 106 acre property in the small town of Millbrook, Ontario. The maximum security prison opened in 1957 and was designed to house 268 inmates, by the time it closed in 2003 the facility had the capacity to hold 490 prisoners. The prison was replaced by the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsey, Ontario, a super jail which could house up to 1200 inmates.

The prison lay vacant and and mostly unused for more than a decade, except for the occasional military training exercises. This site was notoriously difficult to access due to the fact that it was surrounded by a 20 foot high brick wall with very few windows and doors that were always sealed. I did however manage to visit this location on several occasions over the years, during the short periods of time it was accessible. This photo taken inside the prison's chapel was from one of my final visits as the facility was undergoing demolition.

“Erecting Chapel at Collins Bay“Pen”,” Kingston Whig-Standard. March 22, 1932. Page 7. ---- Main Building Will Not Be Ready for Two Years It Is Stated --- The erection of new chapel at the Collin' Bay Penitentiary is under way at the present tine and it is to be expected that it will be completed and ready for use in the near future. The chapel is lasted at the northeast corner of the enclosure surrounding the temporary sleeping quarters, near the tailor shop and barber shop. It will be used by the Protestant and Catholic clergy who conduct the services at the prison.

The chapel is quite a large building and is of frame construction, as are the other temporary buildings at the prison. At the present time, the framework is up and sheeted, and the openings of the windows are in. The roof is being put on, and when the building is enclosed, the interior work will be started. The interior of the chapel will not be elaborate, but it is the aim of Acting Warden M. R. Allen to make it as comfortable as possible.

At the present time then are two hundred and two inmates at the Collin's Bay prism and they are all actively engaged. No construction work is in progress at present but as so on as the weather permits work will be resumed on the Administration Building. The stone cutting gang have been busy all winter getting stock piles of stone ready for use, but Warden Allen expresses as his opinion that it will be two years before the building is finished.

Stone The stone, which is being used, is being token from a quarry on the prism property and the stone-cutters are working on a shack near the Administration Building. The quarried stone is hauled over and cut. The cutting to taking a long time and due to the constant changes in the personnel of the stone cutting gang, work is necessarily slow. The shops are all busy, the woodworking machine, and tailor shops, are carrying on, the first two getting a greet deal of material ready for use as soon as construction can be begun.

The plans for the farm work, which will be carried on at the prison this summer, are all made and when the men can get on the land, ploughing will be started. Considerable ploughing was done last fall, but until the snow goes, the Warden cannot get any idea of what work remains. The prospects are that the year will be a busy one, and by next winter, the first building of the prison will be taking shape.

#kingston ontario #collins bay penitentiary #prison chapel #prison construction #prison building #convict labour #penal labour #construction workers #prison workers #minimum security institution #dominion penitentiaries #prison industries #crime and punishment in canada #history of crime and punishment in canada

Church of the Sacred Heart, the prison chapel for Arbour Hill prison

#dublin #church #prison chapel #2017 dublin & cumbria

01.11.2014

Ice by the Prison Chapel

#ice #prison chapel #Liberty Village Park

Prison Chapel window

#window #prison chapel

Why I Love Toronto Reason #322

Liberty Village

I think as we come to a close I need to add Liberty Village to this list. Now I have mentioned Liberty Village in three of my posts the first being The Prison Chapel (which I also wrote a brief piece on for the University Of Toronto’s Varsity Magazine - check out my profile page here!), The Toronto Carpet Factory and I mentioned it briefly during my post on Balzac Coffee. I have even mentioned it from time to time as being the perfect fuse of old and new and I think it’s time I explain what I mean when I say that.

Liberty Village is becoming/ some may argue already is the new Toronto hot spot with some of Toronto’s best Patio’s located here. However, many people may not know that Liberty Village once had a dark and very industrial past that should be noted. At one point in time it was housed male prisoners at the Toronto Central Prison as well as women at the Andrew Mercer Reformatory. The prison and reformatory inspired the name liberty village because as soon as a prisoner left the prison grounds they would step on Liberty Street in the village surrounding the prison and get their first taste of their regained their liberty/ freedom – hence Liberty Village. Sadly, however sweet you thought that story was it doesn’t compare to the supposed horror that took place in the prison. Now the horrors are of course allegations and none of them have been confirmed, but rumours have said that many of the prisoners were tortured, beat and had been given experimental drugs and underwent experimental procedures. So if you ever feel like some other worldly thing is following or watching you, you most likely have a ghost/ tortured soul problem – call Ghostbusters immediately. The prison opened in the late 1800’s and closed in early 1900’s – some reports saying 1915. However the reformatory remained opened until 1969. Today the reformatory has been converted into the Alan Lamport Stadium in which the superintendent’s house still remains.

However it also had an industrial past when John Inglis and Sons opened a factory on the grounds. The company for a time helped with the war effort in World War Two and eventually after the war made products that many of us probably have in our homes today. Eventually in the 80’s everyone started to move out to the village and many people described the area as an abandoned wasteland. It wasn’t until the beginning of the millennium that it started to become what we see it as today.

Today liberty village is a number of things. It is a home, a workplace, retail and a party area. In terms of homes, you can live in newly built townhomes or live in old factories that have been converted into lofts/ condos. The old factory home would be my picture perfect home, because of the high ceilings, exposed bricks and windows. It also has some amazing bars. I have been to Brazen Head which is in this amazing building and I have been told to go to School and Williams Landing as well. Lastly it is also a place to work and not for those who work in the metro and other retail locations in the area. The Toronto Carpet Factory for example has become the offices, for advertising and media firms, plus there are so many other communication like companies located in the old buildings around.

In the end it is the perfect fuse of present and past – old and new. You still have many of the old buildings standing and they have been converted for modern use. However, even though they may have been turned into condos or lofts they still have a heritage value to them. They still represent what liberty village once was – an industrial area and in some cases a prison. It is the perfect mix of what the city once was and what it has become.

That is Why I Love Toronto.

http://www.toronto.ca/planning/king_liberty.htm

http://www.libertyvillagetoronto.com/

http://www.torontoneighbourhoods.net/neighbourhoods/downtown/liberty-village