Sunday 25 May 2008

Doors Open: CAMH's historic wall

Doors Open was this weekend and Gord and I did two events today.

We checked out the CAMH's (Centre for Addictions and Mental Health, formerly the Provincial Asylum) historic wall tour since it is in our 'hood. I take KC for walks there all the time.

The CAMH used to be 150 acres ... it's now 27 acres. It is surrounded by tall brick walls on the east, west and south sides. The north side's walls were knocked down in the 1970s. They were built by the patients in the 1860s. The theory was that it was part of therapeutic therapy. But basically it was free labour!

Part of the east wall

The patients left their marks on the bricks


Our guide, Dr. Geoffrey Reaume, at the south wall


Bricks on one of the only two original buildings, the cooper building, carved by a patient that says "born to be murdered"


A patient's name



It was a really interesting tour. Geoffrey put a lot of heart into it with his stories of patients who had been there for more than 50 years.

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