Transforming lives at CAMH

The Centre for Addiction & Mental Health (CAMH) is in my 'hood.

1001 Queen Street W has been home to a mental health facility for more than 150 years. On January 26, 1850, the Provincial Lunatic Asylum, as it was then known, first opened its doors. At that time, our 'hood was out in the country, where the patients couldn't bother anyone.

Architect John Howard's "Provincial Lunatic Asylum" as it would have appeared in the 19th Century

Throughout the years there have been numerous name changes -- the Toronto Lunatic Asylum, the Provincial Lunatic Asylum, "999 Queen Street" and the Queen Street Mental Health Centre. The site was a Provincial Psychiatric Hospital operated by the Government of Ontario until 1998 when the Provincial Psychiatric Hospitals began to be transformed into public hospitals.

"Transforming Lives Here", CAMH’s vision for the redevelopment of the Queen Street site, is that of an integrated and mixed-use urban village. This community integration will be achieved through a variety of means: extending the local street network onto their 27-acre site, creating three new public parks, and the addition of new non-CAMH land uses into their site, side-by-side with their new facilities.

This was the first phase which was completed last year.

They are now knocking down the large building which faces Queen Street W ...

This is in front of the new buildings ... I thought it was an excellent use of snow (Greg ♥s Jamie).