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{{Short description|Former jail in Toronto, Canada}}
{{Infobox prison
{{Infobox prison
| prison_name = Don Jail
| prison_name = Don Jail
| image = [[File:New Don Jail.jpg|240px]]
| image = Don Jail building, entrance, winter.jpg
| caption = The "New Jail" adjoined to the original Don Jail building
| caption = The restored [[facade]] of the<br />Don Jail building in 2014
| location = [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]]
| location = [[Toronto]], Ontario, Canada
| coordinates =
| coordinates =
| status =
| status = Closed
| classification = Short Term (Remand)
| classification = Short Term (Remand)
| capacity = 550
| capacity = 550
| population =
| population =
| populationdate =
| populationdate =
| opened = 1858 (current facility completed in 1865 with later additions. "New Jail" completed in 1958)
| opened = 1864 (original jail)<br />1958 (east wing)
| closed =
| closed = 1977 (original jail)<br />2013 (east wing)
| former_name =
| former_name =
| managed_by = [[Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services (Ontario)|Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services]]
| director =
| director =
| governor =
| governor = [[George L. Allen]] (1864–1872)
| warden =
| warden =
| prisoners =
| prisoners =
}}
}}
The '''Toronto Jail''' (more commonly known as '''The Don''', or '''The Don Jail''') is a provincial jail for [[Detention of suspects|remand]]ed offenders in the city of [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], Canada. It is located in the [[Riverdale, Toronto|Riverdale]] neighbourhood on [[Gerrard Street (Toronto)|Gerrard Street East]] near its intersection with [[Broadview Avenue]]. It gets its nickname from the nearby [[Don River (Toronto)|Don River]]. One reason for the popular use of "The Don" nickname is that this jail was the third or fourth to be known as the '''Toronto Jail'''. The [[Toronto Central Prison]] was also colloquially known as the Toronto Jail, as were the [[King Street Gaol (1827)|King Street Gaols]]. Ironically, The Don is the only jail to have been officially designated the Toronto Jail, yet has rarely been referred to as such outside official circles. The original Don Gaol building closed in 1977 and is now owned by [[Bridgepoint Health]] which has begun renovation of the building as a new administration building scheduled to open in spring 2013.<ref>http://www.bridgepointhealth.ca/newhospital</ref> The adjoining Toronto Jail building will remain operational until a new facility, the Toronto South Detention Centre is completed on the site of the current [[Mimico Correctional Centre]].<ref>Infrastructure Ontario Media Release [http://www.infrastructureontario.ca/en/news/io_news/2008/sept0908/Toronto%20South%20DC%20-%20Pre-qualified%20bidders%20News%20Release.pdf Detention Centre Project Attracts Industry Interest], September 9, 2008</ref>


The '''Don Jail''' was a [[Prison|jail]] in [[Toronto]], Ontario, Canada, located to the east of the [[Don River (Toronto)|Don River]], on [[Gerrard Street (Toronto)|Gerrard Street East]] in the [[Riverdale, Toronto|Riverdale]] neighbourhood. The original building was completed in 1864 and was reopened in 2013 to serve as the administrative wing of [[Bridgepoint Active Healthcare]], a [[rehabilitation hospital]] located adjacent to the jail. Prior to its [[adaptive reuse]] as part of a healthcare facility, the building was used as a provincial jail for [[Detention of suspects|remand]]ed offenders and was officially known as the '''Toronto Jail'''. The jail originally had a capacity of 184 inmates, and it was separated into an east wing for the men and a west wing for the women.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Peppiatt|first1=Liam|title=Chapter 34: The Jails of the County|url=http://www.landmarksoftoronto.com/the-jails-of-the-county/|website=Robertson's Landmarks of Toronto Revisited|access-date=2015-07-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925083212/http://www.landmarksoftoronto.com/the-jails-of-the-county/|archive-date=2015-09-25|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== Architecture ==
The Don Gaol (pronounced 'jail') was built between 1862 and 1865 (predating Canadian Confederation by two years) with most of the current jail facilities being built in the 1950s, although a jail has stood on the site since 1858. Designed by [[architect]] [[William Thomas (architect)|William Thomas]] in 1852, its distinctive façade in the [[Italianate]] style with a pedimented central pavilion and vermiculated columns flanking the main entrance portico is one of the architectural treasures of the city and one of the oldest pre-Confederation (1867) structures that remains intact in Toronto. For example, it is over thirty years older than Toronto's Romanesque [[Old City Hall (Toronto)|Old City Hall]]. Owing to its sturdy construction, its interior has gone largely unchanged in the last fifty years as renovations would be both difficult and expensive, even in an empty facility; as such, it is considered badly outdated as a prison facility.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}}


==History==
The adjoining building was built in 1958 and remained in operation as the Toronto Jail (but retained the "Don Jail" nickname) after the original building closed in 1977.<ref>[http://www.bridgepointhealth.ca/uploads/Foundation/PDFs/LifeChanges%20Don%20Jail.pdf Transforming the Historic Don Jail], Bridgepoint Health</ref>
⚫
[[File:DonJail1860s.jpg|left|thumb|The Don Jail shortly after completion in the 1860s]]
The 'Don Gaol' was built between 1858 and 1864, with a new wing being built in the 1950s. Designed by architect [[William Thomas (architect)|William Thomas]] in 1852,<ref>Hauch, Valerie. "If these limestone walls could talk". ''Toronto Star'', June 28, 2015.</ref> it was constructed with a distinctive [[facade]] in the [[Italianate]] style, with a pedimented central pavilion and vermiculated columns flanking the main entrance portico. It is one of the oldest pre-[[Canadian Confederation|Confederation]] structures that [[List of oldest buildings and structures in Toronto|remains intact in Toronto]].


The Don Jail is the only jail to have been officially designated the Toronto Jail, yet has rarely been referred to as such outside official circles, with the facility more commonly known as the Don Jail or 'The Don'. The [[King Street Gaol (1798)|first King Street Gaol]], the [[King Street Gaol (1827)|second King Street Gaol]] and the [[Toronto Central Prison]] were all colloquially known as the Toronto Jail, and the Don Jail likely earned its unofficial name to distinguish it from these other facilities.
⚫
== Living conditions ==
Originally constructed to house 276 prisoners, its "rated capacity" is now 550, and its average prisoner load is about 620. In addition, as a "short-term" jail, it was not designed with adequate visitor facilities, exercise areas, telephones, lawyer meeting rooms, showers, or even laundry facilities. However, the average stay is 30–90 days, and many prisoners are kept there for months. Many attempts have been made to close it as politicians, international [[human rights]] organizations, prisoner advocate groups and even [[corrections officer]]s have decried its overcrowding and inadequate facilities. Guards at the jail have even walked out in protest of these conditions: on January 16, 2008 one such walk-out resulted in a complete jail lockdown.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} However, despite several attempts to close the facility, it remains open primarily to deal with the large number of [[Detention of suspects|remand]] prisoners awaiting trial. It is often overburdened by a large number of arrested persons awaiting [[arraignment]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} It does not hold any persons actually found guilty of an offence, except for brief periods while they await transfer from court to the institution where they will serve their sentences.


⚫
In 1952, the jail was the subject of the first ever television news report on the [[CBC Television]] English-language network when the [[Boyd Gang]], a notorious group of [[Bank robbery|bank robbers]], broke out of the facility for the second time. The [[news anchor]] was future ''[[Bonanza]]'' star [[Lorne Greene]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-69-543-2729/life_society/boyd_gang/clip4 |title=Gang's second jailbreak becomes CBC's first TV news story - Television - CBC Archives<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2004-03-05 |archive-date=2004-03-05 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20040305004312/http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-69-543-2729/life_society/boyd_gang/clip4 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1974, James J. Benko was the youngest bank robber to escape from the Don Jail at age 16.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}
⚫
Courts have taken [[judicial notice]] of the deplorable conditions at the Toronto Jail. In ''R. v. Smith'' [2003] O.J. No. 1782, Justice Richard Schneider set a precedent in this regard by crediting persons serving time in the facility awaiting trial with three days for every day spent in the facility, as opposed to the more common "2-for-1" practice. In ''R. v. Permesar'' [2003] O.J. No. 5420, the same judge noted that the prison failed to meet the [[Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners]] set by the [[United Nations]].<ref>As reviewed by Justice Paul H. Reinhardt in [http://www.canlii.org/en/on/oncj/doc/2006/2006oncj349/2006oncj349.html ''R. v. Prince'', 2006 ONCJ 349 (CanLII)]</ref> These conditions were also brought to light by a controversial article<ref>"Stink of vomit, urine and grimy mould fills dingy 21st-century anachronism", ''Toronto Star'', 7 May 2003, p. A01.</ref> appearing in the ''[[Toronto Star]]'' after [[journalist]] [[Linda Diebel]] was smuggled into the prison by [[Dave Levac]], a sympathetic [[Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario)|Ontario MPP]]. Mr. Levac faced censure by the [[Office of the Integrity Commissioner (Ontario)|Integrity Commissioner]] for bringing in the reporter, whom he led Jail officials to believe was a member of his staff, as part of his entourage.<ref>The Hon. Coulter A. Osborne, [http://integrity.oico.on.ca/oic/OICweb2.nsf/(CommReports)/12/$FILE/report.pdf?OpenElement "Report Re: Mr. [[David Levac]], Member for [[Brant]], with respect to his attendance at the Toronto Don Jail"], 23 July 2003.</ref><ref>"MPP censured over Star reporter's Don jail visit", ''Toronto Star'', 25 July 2003, p. A06.</ref>


[[File:New Don Jail.jpg|thumb|The Don Jail east wing in 2007, six years before its demolition]]
⚫
== Capital punishment ==
An adjoining, [[Modern architecture|modernist]] east wing was built in 1958. When the original Don Jail building ceased to be used for housing offenders in 1977, the east wing remained in operation as the Toronto Jail (retaining the ''Don Jail'' moniker).<ref>[http://www.bridgepointhealth.ca/uploads/Foundation/PDFs/LifeChanges%20Don%20Jail.pdf Transforming the Historic Don Jail]{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, Bridgepoint Health</ref> The east wing continued to serve as a jail until December 31, 2013, when a new facility, the [[Toronto South Detention Centre]], was completed on the site of the former Mimico Correctional Centre.<ref>Infrastructure Ontario Media Release [http://www.infrastructureontario.ca/en/news/io_news/2008/sept0908/Toronto%20South%20DC%20-%20Pre-qualified%20bidders%20News%20Release.pdf Detention Centre Project Attracts Industry Interest] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123173121/http://www.infrastructureontario.ca/en/news/io_news/2008/sept0908/Toronto%20South%20DC%20-%20Pre-qualified%20bidders%20News%20Release.pdf |date=November 23, 2010 }}, September 9, 2008</ref>
⚫
[[File:DonJail1860s.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Don Jail as it looked in the 1860s|alt=building]]
⚫
Before [[capital punishment]] was abolished in Canada, the Toronto Jail was the site of a number of [[hanging]]s. Starting with the execution of John Boyd in January 1908, hangings at the jail took place in an indoor chamber, which was a converted washroom, at the northeast corner of the old building. Previously, condemned men had been hanged on an outdoor scaffold in the jail yard. The indoor facility was seen as an improvement because outdoor executions were quasi-public (at the hanging of Fred Lee Rice in 1905, crowds had lined surrounding rooftops to see something of the spectacle) and because the condemned didn’t have to walk as far. {{Citation needed|date=July 2010}}


⚫
===Living conditions===
⚫
The best-known Canadian hangmen, such as John Radclive, [[Arthur Ellis]] and Camille Blanchard, hanged men at the Toronto Jail. The Toronto-based hangman Samuel Edwards, who worked during the [[Great Depression]], carried out his first execution there in July 1931.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}}
Originally designed as a reform prison, and once dubbed the "Palace for Prisoners" because of its progressive approach to the wellness and living conditions of inmates, the reputation of the Don Jail soured over the years due to overcrowding and other factors. The jail's bad reputation contributed to the closure of the historic jail building in 1977.<ref name=Kryhul/>


The east wing was constructed to house 276 prisoners, but at the end of its service its "rated capacity" was 550, and its average prisoner load was about 620. In addition, as a "short-term" jail, it was not designed with adequate visitor facilities, exercise areas, telephones, lawyer meeting rooms, showers, or even laundry facilities. However, the average stay was 30–90 days, and many prisoners were kept there for months. It was often overburdened by a large number of arrested persons awaiting [[arraignment]].{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}
Twenty-six men were hanged on the jail’s indoor gallows. The jail saw three double hangings: Roy Hotrum and William McFadden in August 1921; Leonard Jackson and Steven Suchan in December 1952; [[Ronald Turpin]] and [[Arthur Lucas]] on 11 December 1962. Turpin and Lucas had each been convicted in separate murders, and their executions were Canada's last before capital punishment was abolished.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}}


⚫
Courts took [[judicial notice]] of the deplorable conditions at the Don Jail. In ''R. v. Smith'' [2003] O.J. No. 1782, Justice Richard Schneider set a precedent in this regard by crediting persons serving time in the facility awaiting trial with three days against their sentence for every day spent in the facility, as opposed to the "2-for-1" pre-trial custody credit typically given during [[criminal sentencing in Canada]] at the time. In ''R. v. Permesar'' [2003] O.J. No. 5420, the same judge noted that the prison failed to meet the [[Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners]] set by the [[United Nations]].<ref>As reviewed by Justice Paul H. Reinhardt in [https://archive.today/20120728123605/http://www.canlii.org/en/on/oncj/doc/2006/2006oncj349/2006oncj349.html ''R. v. Prince'', 2006 ONCJ 349 (CanLII)]</ref> These conditions were also brought to light by a controversial article<ref>"Stink of vomit, urine and grimy mould fills dingy 21st-century anachronism", ''Toronto Star'', 7 May 2003, p. A01.</ref> appearing in the ''[[Toronto Star]]'' after [[journalist]] [[Linda Diebel]] was smuggled into the prison by [[Dave Levac]], a sympathetic [[Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario)|Ontario MPP]]. Mr. Levac faced censure by the [[Office of the Integrity Commissioner (Ontario)|Integrity Commissioner]] for bringing in the reporter, whom he led Jail officials to believe was a member of his staff, as part of his entourage.<ref>The Hon. Coulter A. Osborne, [http://integrity.oico.on.ca/oic/OICweb2.nsf/(CommReports)/12/$FILE/report.pdf?OpenElement "Report Re: Mr. David Levac, Member for Brant, with respect to his attendance at the Toronto Don Jail"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090530204609/http://integrity.oico.on.ca/oic/OICweb2.nsf/(CommReports)/12/$FILE/report.pdf?OpenElement |date=May 30, 2009 }}, 23 July 2003.</ref><ref>"MPP censured over Star reporter's Don jail visit", ''Toronto Star'', 25 July 2003, p. A06.</ref>
⚫
In 2007, human remains were found on the jail's grounds during an archaeological assessment.<ref>[http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/260592 Kopun, Francine. "Human remains found at Don Jail", ''Toronto Star'', 25 September 2007.]</ref>


⚫
===Capital punishment===
== Movies, television and books ==
[[File:National Museum of Crime and Punishmen - Hangman Rope from Don Jail 1915 (2869481808).jpg|thumb|upright|A hangman [[noose]] purportedly used in the Don Jail to hang [[Hangman's Graveyard#Jan Ziolko|Jan Ziolko]] in April 1915, as displayed at the [[National Museum of Crime & Punishment]]|alt=A hangman noose, displayed as a museum exhibit in the [[National Museum of Crime & Punishment]], purportedly used in the Don Jail to hang Jan Ziolko in April 1915, with a card describing this exhibit]]
⚫
In 1952, the jail was the subject of the first ever television news report on the [[CBC Television]] English network when the [[Boyd Gang]], a notorious group of [[Bank robbery|bank robbers]], broke out of the facility for the second time. The [[news anchor]] was future ''[[Bonanza]]'' star, [[Lorne Greene]].<ref>[http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-69-543-2729/life_society/boyd_gang/clip4 Gang's second jailbreak becomes CBC's first TV news story - Television - CBC Archives<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
⚫
Before [[Capital punishment in Canada|capital punishment]] was abolished in Canada, the Toronto Jail was the site of a number of [[hanging]]s. Starting with the execution of John Boyd in January 1908, hangings at the jail took place in an indoor chamber, which was a converted washroom, at the northeast corner of the old building. Previously, condemned men had been hanged on an outdoor scaffold in the jail yard. The indoor facility was seen as an improvement because outdoor executions were quasi-public (at the hanging of Fred Lee Rice on July 18, 1902, crowds had lined surrounding rooftops to see something of the spectacle) and because the condemned didn't have to walk as far. {{Citation needed|date=July 2010}}


⚫
The best-known Canadian hangmen, such as John Radclive, [[Arthur B. English|Arthur Ellis]] and Camille Blanchard, hanged men at the Toronto Jail. The Toronto-based hangman Samuel Edwards, who worked during the [[Great Depression]], carried out his first execution there in July 1931.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}}
For the movie ''[[Cocktail (1988 film)|Cocktail]]'' (1988), starring [[Tom Cruise]] and [[Bryan Brown]], the [[rotunda (architecture)|rotunda]] in the old section of the jail was redressed as an upscale [[New York]] [[nightclub]].<ref>[http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/toronto/archive/2008/08/05/back-story-the-don-jail.aspx Back Story: The Don Jail], National Post, August 05, 2008</ref>


Twenty-six men were hanged on the jail's indoor gallows. The jail saw three double hangings: Roy Hotrum and William McFadden in August 1921; [[Leonard Jackson (Boyd Gang)|Leonard Jackson]] and [[Steven Suchan (Boyd Gang)|Steven Suchan]] in December 1952; [[Ronald Turpin]] and [[Arthur Lucas]] on 11 December 1962. Turpin and Lucas had each been convicted in separate murders, and their executions were Canada's last before capital punishment was abolished.<ref name=CPUK>{{cite web |url=http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/canada.html |title=Executions in Canada from 1860 to abolition |publisher=Capital Punishment U.K. |date=24 October 2016 }}</ref> <ref>{{Cite news|date=2012-12-10|title=The end of the rope: The story of Canada's last executions|language=en-CA|work=The Toronto Star|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2012/12/10/the_end_of_the_rope_the_story_of_canadas_last_executions.html|access-date=2022-01-07|issn=0319-0781}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite web|title=Capital punishment in Canada - CBC News|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/capital-punishment-in-canada-1.795391|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140117092746/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/capital-punishment-in-canada-1.795391 |archive-date=2014-01-17 }}</ref>
The jail was also a filming location for the episode ''So Shall Ye Reap'', from the TV series ''[[War of the Worlds (TV series)|War Of The Worlds]]'' in which it served as the hideout for the aliens.{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}}


⚫
In 2007, human remains were found on the jail's grounds during an archaeological assessment.<ref>[https://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/260592 Kopun, Francine. "Human remains found at Don Jail", ''Toronto Star'', 25 September 2007.]</ref>
The jail is featured in pivotal scenes in the novel ''Old City Hall'', by [[Robert Rotenberg]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}}


===Transformation into a hospital facility===
The jail is extensively featured in the 2009 documentary ''[[Hangman's Graveyard]]''. The film details the recent archaeological investigation at the jail and tells the story of the executed inmates found in an abandoned cemetery beneath a parking lot behind the jail.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}}
[[File:Bridgepoint Hospital and Don Jail.jpg|thumb|left|The Don Jail being renovated in 2013, with the new Bridgepoint Health hospital immediately to the west]]
The Don Jail has long shared its site with a hospital. The original House of Refuge was built in 1860 on the same property as a home for "vagrants, the dissolute, and for idiots". The House of Refuge became the Riverdale Isolation Hospital in 1875 during a smallpox epidemic, and later evolved into a hospital for those with chronic ailments and/or needing rehabilitation.<ref>{{cite web|last=|first=|date=8 February 2013|title=History of the Don Jail|url=http://www.bridgepointhealth.ca/en/who-we-are/resources/The_History_of_the_Don_Jail.pdf|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819092055/http://www.bridgepointhealth.ca/en/who-we-are/resources/The_History_of_the_Don_Jail.pdf|archivedate=19 August 2014|accessdate=12 June 2014|website=|publisher=[[Bridgepoint Health]]}}</ref>


When the newly named [[Bridgepoint Health]] (now Hennick Bridgepoint Hospital) demolished the 1950s-era Riverdale Hospital building to replace it with a new 10-storey facility, the historic Don Jail building was extensively renovated to serve as the administrative wing for the hospital, a process which included the removal of "150 years worth of grime" from the exterior. About 20 per cent of the former jail's heritage interior was preserved, including the centre block's half-octagonal [[Rotunda (architecture)|rotunda]] featuring [[clerestory]] windows, as well as original iron railings and balconies supported by griffin and serpent cast-iron brackets. The punishment and death row cells, and the former gallows tower (where an outline of the timber framing remains on the interior walls), were also preserved, to remain behind closed doors except for occasions such as [[Doors Open Toronto|Doors Open]].<ref name=Kryhul>{{cite news|last1=Kryhul|first1=Angela|title=Historic Don Jail buffed up, refitted for a new purpose|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/property-report/historic-don-jail-buffed-up-refitted-for-a-new-purpose/article5422710/#dashboard/follows/|accessdate=10 June 2014|work=[[The Globe and Mail]]|date=19 November 2012}}</ref>
Scenes from ''[[Chicago (2002 film)|Chicago]]'' were filmed in the old building.


In 2008, the City of Toronto's heritage preservation staff and some Councillors wanted Bridgepoint Health to retain the steel bars on all of the old jail's windows. Fearing that the barred windows were incompatible with the hospital's objectives of openness and well-being, Bridgepoint Health was able to convince City Council to only require that grilles be maintained on the windows not serving patient rooms or staff offices.<ref>{{cite web|title=Don Jail to lose bars in hospital conversion|url=http://www.canada.com/story_print.html?id=b494f679-ab6f-4227-a906-462678a84362&sponsor=|website=[[Canada.com]]|accessdate=10 June 2014|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20140610210319/http://www.canada.com/story_print.html?id=b494f679-ab6f-4227-a906-462678a84362&sponsor=|archivedate=10 June 2014|date=19 November 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Toronto artist and musician [[Andre Ethier (musician)|Andre Ethier]] wrote the song "Don River Jail" about the building.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}}


The east wing was formally decommissioned on January 6, 2014, at which point it too was transferred to Bridgepoint Health and demolished in March and April of that same year. The site of the former east wing will become landscaped open space and will potentially be used for a future expansion of the hospital facilities.<ref>{{cite web|last=|first=|date=15 January 2014|title=Last piece of $1.2 billion puzzle in place as Bridgepoint Health takes over Don Jail|url=http://www.insidetoronto.com/news-story/4316314-last-piece-of-1-2-billion-puzzle-in-place-as-bridgepoint-health-takes-over-don-jail/|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924035702/http://www.insidetoronto.com/news-story/4316314-last-piece-of-1-2-billion-puzzle-in-place-as-bridgepoint-health-takes-over-don-jail/|archivedate=24 September 2015|accessdate=10 June 2014|website=Inside Toronto}}</ref>
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== See also ==

⚫
{{Commons|:Category:Don Jail|Don Jail}}
The grounds of the former jail are being landscaped into a city park to be named Hubbard Park after [[William Peyton Hubbard]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.insidetoronto.com/news-story/4731720-riverdale-park-to-be-named-after-toronto-s-first-black-elected-official/|title=Riverdale park to be named after Toronto's first black elected official|date=August 2014}}</ref> The former Don Jail Roadway has been extended and renamed Jack Layton Way after [[Jack Layton]], the late leader of the [[New Democratic Party of Canada]] and former [[Member of Parliament]] for the area.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://torontoist.com/2013/02/jack-layton-way-opens/ |title = Jack Layton Way Opens|date = 25 February 2013}}</ref>

The prison and hospital also served as the location of the fictional Dyad institute in the Canadian TV show ''[[Orphan Black]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2234222/locations?ref_=tt_dt_dt |title = Orphan Black (TV Series 2013–2017) - Filming & Production - IMDb|website = [[IMDb]]}}</ref> The rotunda of the jail was also used as a set for The Cell Block bar in the movie ''[[Cocktail (1988 film)|Cocktail]]'' (1988).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094889/locations?ref_=tt_dt_dt |title = Cocktail (1988) - Filming & Production - IMDb|website = [[IMDb]]}}</ref>

⚫
==See also==
* [[List of oldest buildings and structures in Toronto]]
* [[List of oldest buildings and structures in Toronto]]
* [[List of correctional facilities in Ontario]]
* [[List of correctional facilities in Ontario]]
* [[Capital punishment in Canada]]
* [[Capital punishment in Canada]]
* [[Hangman's Graveyard]]


==External links==
==References==
⚫
*[http://readingt.readingcities.com/index.php/toronto/search/the_don_jail_visit_with_era_architects/ Reading Toronto: photo gallery]
⚫
*[http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/260592 "Human Remains found at Don Jail" - thestar.com]

== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}

==External links==
⚫
{{Commons category|Don Jail}}
⚫
*[https://archive.today/20130201004433/http://readingt.readingcities.com/index.php/toronto/search/the_don_jail_visit_with_era_architects/ Reading Toronto: photo gallery]
⚫
*[https://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/260592 "Human Remains found at Don Jail" - thestar.com]
*{{YouTube|rDb2xqHwJF0|History of Bridgepoint Active Healthcare Campus}}. Most of this video focuses on the Don Jail.


{{coord|43.66618|N|79.353972|W|region:CA-ON_type:landmark|display=title}}
{{coord|43.66618|N|79.353972|W|region:CA-ON_type:landmark|display=title}}


[[Category:Prisons in Ontario]]
[[Category:Defunct prisons in Ontario]]
[[Category:2014 disestablishments in Ontario]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Toronto]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Toronto]]
[[Category:William Thomas buildings]]
[[Category:William Thomas (architect) buildings]]
[[Category:Execution sites]]
[[Category:Execution sites in Canada]]
[[Category:1864 establishments in Canada]]
[[Category:Italianate architecture in Canada]]

Latest revision as of 23:18, 19 July 2024

Don Jail
The restored facade of the
Don Jail building in 2014
Map
LocationToronto, Ontario, Canada
StatusClosed
Security classShort Term (Remand)
Capacity550
Opened1864 (original jail)
1958 (east wing)
Closed1977 (original jail)
2013 (east wing)
GovernorGeorge L. Allen (1864–1872)

The Don Jail was a jail in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located to the east of the Don River, on Gerrard Street East in the Riverdale neighbourhood. The original building was completed in 1864 and was reopened in 2013 to serve as the administrative wing of Bridgepoint Active Healthcare, a rehabilitation hospital located adjacent to the jail. Prior to its adaptive reuse as part of a healthcare facility, the building was used as a provincial jail for remanded offenders and was officially known as the Toronto Jail. The jail originally had a capacity of 184 inmates, and it was separated into an east wing for the men and a west wing for the women.[1]

History

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The Don Jail shortly after completion in the 1860s

The 'Don Gaol' was built between 1858 and 1864, with a new wing being built in the 1950s. Designed by architect William Thomas in 1852,[2] it was constructed with a distinctive facade in the Italianate style, with a pedimented central pavilion and vermiculated columns flanking the main entrance portico. It is one of the oldest pre-Confederation structures that remains intact in Toronto.

The Don Jail is the only jail to have been officially designated the Toronto Jail, yet has rarely been referred to as such outside official circles, with the facility more commonly known as the Don Jail or 'The Don'. The first King Street Gaol, the second King Street Gaol and the Toronto Central Prison were all colloquially known as the Toronto Jail, and the Don Jail likely earned its unofficial name to distinguish it from these other facilities.

In 1952, the jail was the subject of the first ever television news report on the CBC Television English-language network when the Boyd Gang, a notorious group of bank robbers, broke out of the facility for the second time. The news anchor was future Bonanza star Lorne Greene.[3] In 1974, James J. Benko was the youngest bank robber to escape from the Don Jail at age 16.[citation needed]

The Don Jail east wing in 2007, six years before its demolition

An adjoining, modernist east wing was built in 1958. When the original Don Jail building ceased to be used for housing offenders in 1977, the east wing remained in operation as the Toronto Jail (retaining the Don Jail moniker).[4] The east wing continued to serve as a jail until December 31, 2013, when a new facility, the Toronto South Detention Centre, was completed on the site of the former Mimico Correctional Centre.[5]

Living conditions

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Originally designed as a reform prison, and once dubbed the "Palace for Prisoners" because of its progressive approach to the wellness and living conditions of inmates, the reputation of the Don Jail soured over the years due to overcrowding and other factors. The jail's bad reputation contributed to the closure of the historic jail building in 1977.[6]

The east wing was constructed to house 276 prisoners, but at the end of its service its "rated capacity" was 550, and its average prisoner load was about 620. In addition, as a "short-term" jail, it was not designed with adequate visitor facilities, exercise areas, telephones, lawyer meeting rooms, showers, or even laundry facilities. However, the average stay was 30–90 days, and many prisoners were kept there for months. It was often overburdened by a large number of arrested persons awaiting arraignment.[citation needed]

Courts took judicial notice of the deplorable conditions at the Don Jail. In R. v. Smith [2003] O.J. No. 1782, Justice Richard Schneider set a precedent in this regard by crediting persons serving time in the facility awaiting trial with three days against their sentence for every day spent in the facility, as opposed to the "2-for-1" pre-trial custody credit typically given during criminal sentencing in Canada at the time. In R. v. Permesar [2003] O.J. No. 5420, the same judge noted that the prison failed to meet the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners set by the United Nations.[7] These conditions were also brought to light by a controversial article[8] appearing in the Toronto Star after journalist Linda Diebel was smuggled into the prison by Dave Levac, a sympathetic Ontario MPP. Mr. Levac faced censure by the Integrity Commissioner for bringing in the reporter, whom he led Jail officials to believe was a member of his staff, as part of his entourage.[9][10]

Capital punishment

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A hangman noose, displayed as a museum exhibit in the National Museum of Crime & Punishment, purportedly used in the Don Jail to hang Jan Ziolko in April 1915, with a card describing this exhibit
A hangman noose purportedly used in the Don Jail to hang Jan Ziolko in April 1915, as displayed at the National Museum of Crime & Punishment

Before capital punishment was abolished in Canada, the Toronto Jail was the site of a number of hangings. Starting with the execution of John Boyd in January 1908, hangings at the jail took place in an indoor chamber, which was a converted washroom, at the northeast corner of the old building. Previously, condemned men had been hanged on an outdoor scaffold in the jail yard. The indoor facility was seen as an improvement because outdoor executions were quasi-public (at the hanging of Fred Lee Rice on July 18, 1902, crowds had lined surrounding rooftops to see something of the spectacle) and because the condemned didn't have to walk as far. [citation needed]

The best-known Canadian hangmen, such as John Radclive, Arthur Ellis and Camille Blanchard, hanged men at the Toronto Jail. The Toronto-based hangman Samuel Edwards, who worked during the Great Depression, carried out his first execution there in July 1931.[citation needed]

Twenty-six men were hanged on the jail's indoor gallows. The jail saw three double hangings: Roy Hotrum and William McFadden in August 1921; Leonard Jackson and Steven Suchan in December 1952; Ronald Turpin and Arthur Lucas on 11 December 1962. Turpin and Lucas had each been convicted in separate murders, and their executions were Canada's last before capital punishment was abolished.[11] [12] [13]

In 2007, human remains were found on the jail's grounds during an archaeological assessment.[14]

Transformation into a hospital facility

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The Don Jail being renovated in 2013, with the new Bridgepoint Health hospital immediately to the west

The Don Jail has long shared its site with a hospital. The original House of Refuge was built in 1860 on the same property as a home for "vagrants, the dissolute, and for idiots". The House of Refuge became the Riverdale Isolation Hospital in 1875 during a smallpox epidemic, and later evolved into a hospital for those with chronic ailments and/or needing rehabilitation.[15]

When the newly named Bridgepoint Health (now Hennick Bridgepoint Hospital) demolished the 1950s-era Riverdale Hospital building to replace it with a new 10-storey facility, the historic Don Jail building was extensively renovated to serve as the administrative wing for the hospital, a process which included the removal of "150 years worth of grime" from the exterior. About 20 per cent of the former jail's heritage interior was preserved, including the centre block's half-octagonal rotunda featuring clerestory windows, as well as original iron railings and balconies supported by griffin and serpent cast-iron brackets. The punishment and death row cells, and the former gallows tower (where an outline of the timber framing remains on the interior walls), were also preserved, to remain behind closed doors except for occasions such as Doors Open.[6]

In 2008, the City of Toronto's heritage preservation staff and some Councillors wanted Bridgepoint Health to retain the steel bars on all of the old jail's windows. Fearing that the barred windows were incompatible with the hospital's objectives of openness and well-being, Bridgepoint Health was able to convince City Council to only require that grilles be maintained on the windows not serving patient rooms or staff offices.[16]

The east wing was formally decommissioned on January 6, 2014, at which point it too was transferred to Bridgepoint Health and demolished in March and April of that same year. The site of the former east wing will become landscaped open space and will potentially be used for a future expansion of the hospital facilities.[17]

The grounds of the former jail are being landscaped into a city park to be named Hubbard Park after William Peyton Hubbard.[18] The former Don Jail Roadway has been extended and renamed Jack Layton Way after Jack Layton, the late leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada and former Member of Parliament for the area.[19]

The prison and hospital also served as the location of the fictional Dyad institute in the Canadian TV show Orphan Black.[20] The rotunda of the jail was also used as a set for The Cell Block bar in the movie Cocktail (1988).[21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Peppiatt, Liam. "Chapter 34: The Jails of the County". Robertson's Landmarks of Toronto Revisited. Archived from the original on 2015-09-25. Retrieved 2015-07-30.
  2. ^ Hauch, Valerie. "If these limestone walls could talk". Toronto Star, June 28, 2015.
  3. ^ "Gang's second jailbreak becomes CBC's first TV news story - Television - CBC Archives". Archived from the original on 2004-03-05. Retrieved 2004-03-05.
  4. ^ Transforming the Historic Don Jail[permanent dead link‍], Bridgepoint Health
  5. ^ Infrastructure Ontario Media Release Detention Centre Project Attracts Industry Interest Archived November 23, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, September 9, 2008
  6. ^ a b Kryhul, Angela (19 November 2012). "Historic Don Jail buffed up, refitted for a new purpose". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  7. ^ As reviewed by Justice Paul H. Reinhardt in R. v. Prince, 2006 ONCJ 349 (CanLII)
  8. ^ "Stink of vomit, urine and grimy mould fills dingy 21st-century anachronism", Toronto Star, 7 May 2003, p. A01.
  9. ^ The Hon. Coulter A. Osborne, "Report Re: Mr. David Levac, Member for Brant, with respect to his attendance at the Toronto Don Jail" Archived May 30, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, 23 July 2003.
  10. ^ "MPP censured over Star reporter's Don jail visit", Toronto Star, 25 July 2003, p. A06.
  11. ^ "Executions in Canada from 1860 to abolition". Capital Punishment U.K. 24 October 2016.
  12. ^ "The end of the rope: The story of Canada's last executions". The Toronto Star. 2012-12-10. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2022-01-07.
  13. ^ "Capital punishment in Canada - CBC News". Archived from the original on 2014-01-17.
  14. ^ Kopun, Francine. "Human remains found at Don Jail", Toronto Star, 25 September 2007.
  15. ^ "History of the Don Jail" (PDF). Bridgepoint Health. 8 February 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  16. ^ "Don Jail to lose bars in hospital conversion". Canada.com. 19 November 2008. Archived from the original on 10 June 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  17. ^ "Last piece of $1.2 billion puzzle in place as Bridgepoint Health takes over Don Jail". Inside Toronto. 15 January 2014. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  18. ^ "Riverdale park to be named after Toronto's first black elected official". August 2014.
  19. ^ "Jack Layton Way Opens". 25 February 2013.
  20. ^ "Orphan Black (TV Series 2013–2017) - Filming & Production - IMDb". IMDb.
  21. ^ "Cocktail (1988) - Filming & Production - IMDb". IMDb.
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