Wednesday, August 28, 2019

The Prison for Women in Kingston is being destroyed.

I am calling for an immediate moratorium on the redevelopment of the Prison for Women, 40 Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard, Kingston Ontario. 
Why?
1.) The Village of Portsmouth may be designated a UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Site, and the  following buildings and land will be preserved by the United Nations:
The Prison for Women
Kingston Penitentiary
Corrections Canada Museum
Isabel MacNeill Halfway House
Church of the Good Thief
Penitentiary Water Tower
Stone Gables
Corrections Canada Training Centre on Union Street.
Rockwood Asylum
The Portsmouth Olympic Harbour.

2.)  The owner of the Prison for Women is planning to build residential towers that will block views of future UNESCO World Heritage sites, the Pen and Portsmouth Harbour:
City Council Agenda - May 8, 2019 - Brownfield Initial Study Grant Program Page 4
 40 Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard, Kingston Ontario.
     "The property is bounded by Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard to the east and Union Street and King Street to the north and south respectively. The owner has stated that the proposed redevelopment of the property will include residential and commercial components that involve the construction of three new buildings and the extensive renovation of the existing Prison for Women building. The proposed redevelopment will be a mixed use comprised of residential, retail and office space for a total area of approximately 795,000 square feet of buildings and approximately 146 surface parking spots." 
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Rogers and Trainor Commercial Real Estate sold the Prison for Women property.
"The site contains a 54,000 sqft building occupying a footprint of approximately 15,000 sqft."
Compare: Now - a 54,000 square foot building.
                 In the future - 795,000 square feet of buildings.
The entire 8.1 acres of land will be taken over by condominiums and a parking lot. Does anybody care?  The people of Canada have lost a National Historic Site; a Recognized Federal Heritage Building and part of their penitentiary history. The New Westminster Federal Penitentiary in BC and the Saint Vincent de Paul Pen in Laval, Quebec are gone.
     3.)  The Prison for Women known as P4W was designated a heritage building under Section 1V of the Ontario Heritage Act.
4.)  The Village of Portsmouth will eventually be a Government of Ontario Heritage Conservation District.





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