St Joseph's Healthcare · Centre for Mountain Health Services | ? | ? | Complete

[eatboots]

Seems like they want to West Harbour it, own and decide what is going to go there. Will probably sit empty for another 20 years.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

I believe the phrase is 'Auchmar it.'

[ScreamingViking]

What about the ghosts? Somebody has to stand up for the ghosts.

Though the ward councilor is becoming an expert in phantoms so maybe my concern is not warranted.

[SteelTown]

Hamilton councillors debate deal involving former psychiatric hospital lands on Mountain brow
21-acre parcel beside St. Joseph’s Healthcare Centre includes historic but dilapidated Century Manor.

https://www.thespec.com/news-story/8...mountain-brow/

The city is debating a complicated multi-party deal today to decide the fate of the coveted former psychiatric hospital lands on the Mountain brow.

A special council meeting is scheduled to follow the closed-door discussion so that councillors can vote on a "potential acquisition" motion for the 21-acre parcel beside St. Joseph's Healthcare Centre.

That property includes the historic but dilapidated Century Manor, which once formed part of Hamilton's Asylum for the Insane.

Ward councillor Terry Whitehead said he can't reveal details of the proposal ahead of time, but confirmed it comes following extensive talks with the province and Mohawk College.

"I see it as a potential win-win-win … I can say I'm quite happy with how things are developing," he said, adding a related provincial announcement is expected as early as Thursday.

Mohawk College, which is just across street, has previously expressed interest in some or all of the property, potentially for student housing.

Other city sources have suggested council could leverage the brow lands deal to help building affordable housing elsewhere.

Councillors were still discussing the issue behind closed doors just before noon today.

Heritage advocate Patricia Saunders, who helped organize a local task force dedicated to saving the heritage-designated Century Manor built in 1884, said she is "hopeful, but worried" about whatever deal the city has negotiated behind closed doors.

"I hope they do what so many of us have been asking for and find a way to preserve that building," said Saunders, who hadn't heard a city decision was imminent.

"I was hoping (the city) would keep us in the loop. But at least something is happening."

The city held public consultations a year ago about the prospect of buying the land from Infrastructure Ontario, which declared the property surplus but had also been negotiating with other potential buyers.

Other ideas for the property included selling part of the land to residential developers, reusing the manor as a restaurant, conference centre or for health-related services.

The historic Victorian Gothic manor has been a magnet for ghost hunters and heritage lovers for years, but in recent years public access has been banned over safety concerns.

The brow property also contains the Beckfield Building, Inverness Place, a trades building, workshop, bunker and power house.

[SteelTown]

Council reaches multi-party deal on former hospital lands on Mountain brow
There will be a new owner for historic Century Manor after a complicated land deal that includes the province and Mohawk College.

https://www.thespec.com/news-story/8...mountain-brow/

The city has reached a multi-party deal to decide the fate of the coveted former psychiatric hospital lands on the Mountain brow.

The still-secret deal is expected to give the city financial flexibility to develop affordable housing elsewhere in Hamilton. An announcement is expected Thursday.

A closed-door meeting was held Wednesday to discuss a "potential acquisition" of the 21-acre parcel beside St. Joseph's Healthcare Centre off Fennell Avenue West, which the province has dangled for sale since 2015. Councillors then quickly ratified a confidential decision in a special council vote.

The property includes the historic, but dilapidated Century Manor, once part of Hamilton's Asylum for the Insane, which heritage advocates have pushed the city to protect.

City sources said council was looking at buying part or all of the former hospital property, flipping it to the college and using sale proceeds to help fund affordable housing projects.

Ward councillor Terry Whitehead said he couldn't talk about the deal yet, but confirmed it comes following talks with the province and Mohawk College. "I see it as a win-win-win ... We have been working on this for a long time," he said, adding the province will make details public in a Thursday announcement.

Liberal MPP Ted McMeekin is making a housing-related announcement Thursday at 191 York Blvd. — a city-owned property identified by council as a candidate for a 20-storey "mixed income" development.

Mohawk College, which is across street from the Mountain brow property, has previously expressed interest in the land, potentially for student housing. Spokesperson Jay Robb said he can't comment further ahead of the provincial announcement.

Heritage advocate Patricia Saunders, who helped organize a local task force dedicated to saving the heritage-designated Century Manor built in 1884, said she is "hopeful, but worried" about the mystery deal.

"I hope they do what so many of us have been asking for and find a way to preserve that building," said Saunders, who hadn't heard a decision was imminent.

[SteelTown]

I’m at provincial announcement of complicated deal that results in Century Manor and brow lands going to Mohawk College and #HamOnt building aff housing on York Blvd

So Mohawk College will put up to $9 million into restoring Century Manor. That’s big news for #HamOnt heritage advocates.

Mohawk will ensure public access to brow lands trails, says prez

https://twitter.com/Mattatthespec

[Chronamut]

Yet another haunted property

One has to ask themselves, how much time do they want to spend in a building that was formerly a nuthouse?

[realcity]

Originally Posted by Chronamut

Yet another haunted property

One has to ask themselves, how much time do they want to spend in a building that was formerly a nuthouse?

You know there are real people in there. Mental Illness is not something someone wakes up to and decides they want.

It's a beautiful building, and even if they performed labotomies, they still perform electric shock therapy in the new building and it proves sometimes to be helpful in the worst of situations.

I wish people would stop the stigma. Peace

[realcity]

.

[Chronamut]

Originally Posted by realcity

You know there are real people in there. Mental Illness is not something someone wakes up to and decides they want.

It's a beautiful building, and even if they performed labotomies, they still perform electric shock therapy in the new building and it proves sometimes to be helpful in the worst of situations.

I wish people would stop the stigma. Peace

My apologies - I didn't mean to imply I was putting them down in any way. I am just saying there is a stigma, and esp. with rumours of it being haunted..

Also many atrocities were committed against people in those facilities, which is why many of them were closed down, and the people released into the downtown core.. for many of us it was just a fact of life to see people muttering to themselves as they wandered around downtown growing up..

[davidcappi]

Almost all of Humber's Lakeshore campus is converted psych hospital buildings.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Originally Posted by Chronamut

My apologies - I didn't mean to imply I was putting them down in any way. I am just saying there is a stigma, and esp. with rumours of it being haunted..

Also many atrocities were committed against people in those facilities, which is why many of them were closed down, and the people released into the downtown core.. for many of us it was just a fact of life to see people muttering to themselves as they wandered around downtown growing up..

<Warning - major digression below>

I'm not sure about atrocities exactly. I think some of that's Hollywood bleeding into reality.

I mean, it's safe to say people weren't treated particularly well, at the very least, due to the staff-inmate ratio. That was definitely a problem. And, yes, whenever anyone is in your care, whether you're a mother, a father, a nurse, an orderly, or a caregiver at a senior's facility, you run the risk of abusing that power. That happened and continues to happen everywhere. But treatments like electro-shock therapy, lobotomies or even hydrotherapy were, and in some cases still are, standard treatments for mental illness. A lot of it was also done on an out-patient basis as well. People could admit themselves when they weren't feeling well and spend the night, or the week, or the year if they wanted.

Unfortunately we also used to send pretty much anyone with any sort of neurological or genetic or even developmental challenge to these facilities as well - Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, you name it. In the old days, parents were strongly encouraged to do so by their doctor. Not a good environment for people like that.

In the end, closing down our psychiatric facilities was a financial decision, though people also argued they should be shuttered on compassionate grounds as well. Was that the right decision? Doesn't appear to be. The government has absolved themselves of any sort of duty of care for people with profound psychiatric problems, leaving them out in the streets to degenerate. It has ruined their lives and those of people around them.

[Chronamut]

I should also add that being gay was considered a mental illness until about the 70s - imagine being given electro shock therapy or a lobotomy over something that actually ISN'T a mental illness, but just you being made differently, and that different make not conforming to a rigid reality that doesn't allow for other ways of.. being.

Are these treatments actually beneficial to the cause? Do we know enough about the body and how people react to be able to diagnose such things? Is it acceptable to simply lock undesirables away? These were also decisions that factored into shuttering down such facilities - ethical decisions.

I mean a science minded person could argue that someone seeing ghosts isn't them seeing ghosts, but a mental illness - or faith in god is a mental illness - where does one draw the line between ignorance or naivety of things in reality we don't understand, and actual mental illness?

it's a very controversial topic.

[SteelTown]

Looks like this deal is dead. The Spec said Ford has terminated the deal to sell Century Manor to the City.

https://www.thespec.com/news-story/8...dable-housing/

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Just sell it off and stop being cute (I'm addressing the City). And deal Auchmar while you're at it.

[SteelTown]

Province selling Hamilton land containing historical Century Manor asylum

https://www.insauga.com/province-sel...CFO_KBclrtq5so

The Ontario government announced Tuesday (Mar. 22) that 29-acres of Hamilton land containing the historically-designated Century Manor will be sold to make way for a private long-term care home.

Texas-based CBRE Group, Inc. is listed as the broker of record for 290 Fennel Ave West, which also contains the Beckfield Building, Inverness Place, a trades building, and two Quonsets.

Century Manor was built in the 1880s and was known as Hamilton Asylum for the Insane until it closed to the public in 1995. Since then, the building has mostly been a trespassing hot spot and destination for haunted tourism and horror enthusiasts.

The current provincial government reneged on a deal to sell the brow property to Mohawk College, which had planned to restore the building. It was later rezoned to allow for residential development.

Heritage fans have long-wished the city would purchase the property for preservation. The province says the private sale is part of its initiative to “sell unused provincial lands.”



The property is being sold on the condition that the buyer builds and maintains a long-term care home for a minimum of 30 years that contains a minimum of 256 beds.

The land can also be used for additional development. The province listed “onsite affordable housing” as its optional preferred additional use.

[TheHonestMaple]

Excellent move by the province. Private long term care homes are superior to the bureaucratic nightmare that is government run facilities. This will be good for the city.

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by TheHonestMaple

Excellent move by the province. Private long term care homes are superior to the bureaucratic nightmare that is government run facilities. This will be good for the city.

Weren’t the private long term care homes the ones with the most deaths from covid by a long shot? (At least the for profit ones?)

[Hawrylyshyn]

Originally Posted by Beedok

Weren’t the private long term care homes the ones with the most deaths from covid by a long shot? (At least the for profit ones?)

Yup, the government run LTC homes are far superior. Private ones prioritize profit while government run ones don't.

[ScreamingViking]

This is when a contractual wrinkle about restoring the historical buildings for new uses would come in handy. I doubt there is one, but it would be apropos at this point.