The old Don Jail

Having lived in various parts of the east end of Toronto for 43 years, it seemed amazing that it took this long to finally visit the Don Jail. Just walked over and walked in!

Now admittedly parts of it continued operating as a jail until 2013, but still - it's a cool building and I have walked by it many times. The original building is now the administration building for Bridgepoint Active Healthcare (with the main Hennick Bridgepoint Hospital to the west of it).

So this post is looking at what is left of the jail in the main administration building.

First, from the outside, an impressive entrance:

The stone sculpture over the entrance is Father Time (nobody escapes Father Time)

The main front door is quite heavy. Wood on the outside...

...and copper plated on the inside.

Stairs down to the basement.

Some kind of assembly area(?) in the basement. With a short video playing on a loop. By the way, during the entire time I was in the building I didn't see another person. Nobody at the door to say hi or sign me in. You just wander in and can follow plaques on the wall giving information and some directions (but I think I missed some, so there will need to be another visit). The administration offices were all separate so you can't go in and walk around them :-)

Here's an original cell. About three feet wide with a tiny cot pretty much filling it up.

There was also a 'segregation cell' (which looks a lot like where Harry Potter slept under the stairs for Harry Potter fans!)

Turns out that the prisoners didn't mind this because it was wider than their single cells - though it was dark with no light.

A room number with an old picture of what the jail used to look like.

Working my way up from the basement, this is the main atrium on the first floor with matching glass floor and roof designs.

Still have the arched entrances to cells - now missing their iron bars (mostly) with open office space behind.

View of the atrium from the second floor, other side.

Looking down from the middle of the second floor.

Locking sliding doors at either end of each floor.

And view from the third floor.

Finally, the fourth floor. Just to look at the heating and air conditioning details for the building. Looks like some nice ducts for escaping through - *nobody* would ever suspect that route.

Some more info on the jail and bits of its history are at the Sinai Health website at https://www.sinaihealth.ca/patients-and-visitors/the-historic-don-jail. The infamous Boyd Gang were here for a while.

And for interest, a picture of the new hospital next door: