No there is not a typo in the title. We went downtown for “Doors Open“, but we only got through one door. The Don Jail was one of the new (and most popular) Doors Open for this year. It has never been open to the public before and starting this fall, Bridgeport Health who owns it would start renovations. This was an opportunity for the public to see it (for free, otherwise $20 per person over the summer).
We started the day at Yorkdale subway station and headed to Broadview. From there it was a streetcar to meet Carolyn, Mom and Alex.
We started out just above the G in Gerard Street when we got in line.
The lineup was long, and due to fire regulations, they could only take in 16 people, every 5 minutes. At least that was their plan.
The lineup seemed to move quickly initially, but then at some point it hit a snag.
This didn’t seem so bad when we reached this point. We had already put in an hour at this point, but we had been moving.
Watching people finish their tours.
Even once we got to this point we seemed to keep moving. After this section they led people to individual lanes in groups of 16. We were close to that point when we realized we weren’t moving anymore. One lady fainted in the heat and things were on the verge of turning ugly when two guys were taking pictures of her while she was laying on the ground. People were complaining to the event staff and pointing them out in the crowd.
The kids were good, they didn’t seem to mind. They were able to get out of line and go sit in the shade.
The back of the jail.
The police were out in full force, always a good thing around a jail.
Once we made it to the individual rows we had some hot dogs for lunch.
The old Riverdale Hospital, now the Bridgeport Health Centre.
This guy was an actual guard in the jail at some point.
Finally it was our turn to tour the jail.
Looking up in the rotunda
Some views from inside the Don Jail.
The old jail closed in 1977 (it opened in 1858), the new jail next door was completed in 1958. They use to serve salmon as part of their meal, the salmon was caught in the nearby Don River.
Some of the prisoners.
They filmed the bar scene from the movie “Cocktail” with Tom Cruise in the rotunda.
This was one of the Death Row cells, a little more room than the regular cells, but they spent their entire time in there.
We got to see the execution chamber where they hanged twenty six men between 1908 and 1962. Previous executions were done outdoors for public viewing. You can see the painted outline of the gallows on the wall.
These were the rows of cells for the general population
The cells measured 1×3 metres.
From the inside looking out.
Without the flash, this probably more likely what a prisoners view would be.
More cells.
These were office areas on the main floor.
“Every man who walks through these doors, walks through time”
The front entrance to the old Don Jail.
This was our tour guide who was pointing out the Govenor’s Residence.
The new section of the Don Jail is built right up against the old section.
They still have a little section of barbed (razor) wire on the grounds.
On the brick wall were names of prisoners that were carved into the bricks.
By the time we finished the line-ups were gone. They turned away alot of people and alot of people just turned away when they saw the line-ups.
There were still people waiting to go in.
It was a long day and we can say we saw it. It’s been a part of Toronto history and it was an opportunity to see it in it’s somewhat original condition. The tour was good, just a little rushed. I’m glad I went, not sure about everyone else. We ended up back on Broadview and walked past the new Toronto jail. This one is slated for closure in a few years when the new Toronto South Detention Centre is completed in Mimico.
