Guelph Correctional Centre Opened for Doors Open Guelph

Guelph Correctional Centre
785 York Road, Guelph
(519) 836-3280

Dates/Hours Open:

Saturday, April 25: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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Introduction

The former Guelph Correctional Centre is one of Canada’s largest and most intact examples of a correctional facility designed to reform rather than punish criminal behaviour.

Soon after the government purchased the 800 acre property in 1910, prisoners transferred from the Central Prison in Toronto began to arrive and erect temporary buildings – including living quarters. Within a few years, prisoners were constructing permanent structures, including the industrial buildings. Their work extended to the park-like grounds and included draining of swamps, creations of ponds and construction of rustic bridges and walls.

Construction of the prison complex started in 1915.

The prison buildings themselves were designed to segregate inmates on the basis of behaviour, as well as on their potential for committing dangerous acts.

Guelph Prison Farm

The idea of the ‘prison farm’ was based on a theory that outdoor work, especially farming, would improve the behaviour of prisoners. Reformers hoped that regular, scheduled labour would reduce the monotony of prison life, teach practical skills, instill pride and reduce opportunities for negative social interaction. Prison farms had the added benefit of reducing the overall cost of institutions to taxpayers since it produced all its own food.

At the peak of its era, inmates were employed in the abattoir, wood-working shop, woolen mill, tailor shop, laundry, and mattress factory in addition to working on the institution’s farm.

The prison was closed in 2001 by which time it had been reduced to 310 acres. Currently, the property is comprised of an 85-acre parcel containing the main complex of buildings constructed between 1911 and 1972. Currently, the property is owned by the provincial government and managed by the Ontario Realty Corporation (ORC).

Heritage Studies

In 2006, ORC completed a comprehensive study of Ontario’s correctional facilities and identified parts of the former Guelph Correctional Centre as provincially significant heritage property.

As such, management of the property is guided by ORC’s Heritage Management Process which provides for the identification and conservation of heritage places in a manner that protects its values for future generations.

ORC’s stewardship of the property includes comprehensive heritage conservation planning to ensure that the heritage attributes of the property are protected and sensitively integrated into future uses.

Future Use

The Province has been working closely with the City to build a plan for the sustainable development of the former Guelph Correctional Centre property as well as adjacent lands extending south to Stone Rd. and west to Victoria Rd. that collectively form the York District Study Area.

The overall goal is to enhance the City’s employment base and preserve the natural amenities and cultural heritage that contribute to the community’s quality of life.

In late 2007, the Government released a report which outlined a number of options (mixed-use, live work, bio-products / environmental industries commercialization park and research centre) for the development of the York District lands that reflect both the city’s long-term vision and provincial priorities, including the Growth Plan for Greater Golden Horseshoe.

The City is currently undertaking a planning process that seeks to build on the findings of the Province’s 2007 report. The Province (through the ORC) is working in collaboration with the City and other stakeholders to inform and finalize a mutually acceptable Plan for the York District Study Area.

Timeline

1910 - Provincial government purchases 800 acres of land in Guelph.
1910 - April 11, the first prisoners were transferred from the Central Prison in Toronto; by June there are 64 prisoners; they were accommodated in temporary buildings.
1910 - Architect John M. Lyle is contracted by the government. Provincial government instructs him to visit prison sites in the US with a view to preparing rough cost estimates.
1912 - There are three hundred men at the prison; they work outdoors rather than being confined to their cells all day.
1915 - Construction at the Guleph prison has progressed enough that the Central Prison in Toronto is closed and Guelph becomes “The Ontario Reformatory” – the major penal institution of the province.
1916 - It was the largest prison in Canada with a daily average population of 660 prisoners; it remained Canada’s largest prison until the1940s
1917 - The prison was closed and transferred to the Military Hospitals Commission as a facility for vocational training of returned soldiers.
1921 - January 25, the prison is reopened - all first-time male offenders were initially sent to the Ontario Reformatory, Guelph.
1952 - A major riot erupts, leading to the construction of Millbrook, a new, maximum security prison located near Peterborough.
1972 - Ministry of Correctional Services announces that farming operations at correctional centres will be discontinued.
2001 - The facility is decommissioned.

Links

1) Historical Background of the Guelph Correctional Centre

2) Guelph Correctional Centre site chronology