The expansion to the current Don Jail building
Canadian Prisons
Don Jail
Location:	Toronto, Ontario
Status:	Operational
Classification:	Short Term (Remand)
Capacity:	550
Opened:	1858 (current facility completed in 1865 with later additions)
Closed:
Managed by:	Province of Ontario

The Toronto Jail (more commonly known by the nickname The Don, or in the media as the The Don Jail for clarity) is a provincial jail for remanded offenders in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Toronto (təˈrɒntoʊ colloquially pronounced or) is the largest city in Canada and is the provincial capital of Ontario Year 1858 ( MDCCCLVIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Ontario (ɒnˈtɛrioʊ is a province located in the central part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest after Quebec Toronto (təˈrɒntoʊ colloquially pronounced or) is the largest city in Canada and is the provincial capital of Ontario Ontario (ɒnˈtɛrioʊ is a province located in the central part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest after Quebec It is located in the Riverdale neighbourhood on Gerrard Street East near its intersection with Broadview Avenue. There are other uses for the term Riverdale. Riverdale is a large neighbourhood Gerrard Street is a street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It consists of two separate parts one running east from University Avenue for 6 km Broadview Avenue is a street in east end Toronto, Canada that travels along the east side of the Don River. It gets its nickname for the nearby Don River. This article is about the river in Toronto Canada For other rivers with the same name see Don River (disambiguation. One reason for the popular use of the "Don" nickname is that this jail was the third or fourth to be known as the Toronto Jail. The Toronto Central Prison was also colloquially known as the Toronto Jail, as were the King Street Gaols. The Toronto Central Prison, also known as the Central Prison, Central Prison for Men, and more colloquially as The Toronto Jail (the third of four Ironically, The Don is the only jail to have been officially designated the Toronto Jail, yet has rarely been referred to as such outside official circles.

The Toronto Jail was built between 1862 and 1865 (predating Canadian Confederation by two years) with most of the current jail facilities being built in the 1950s, although a jail has stood on the site since 1858. Designed by architect William Thomas in 1852, its distinctive façade in the Italianate style with a pedimented central pavilion and vermiculated columns flanking the main entrance portico is one of the architectural treasures of the city and one of very few pre-Confederation (1867) structures that remains intact in Toronto. An architect is a licensed individual who leads a design team in the Planning and Design of buildings and participates in oversight of Building Construction William Thomas (born c 1799 in Suffolk, England &ndash died 26 December 1860 in Toronto, Canada) was an In the course of the history of Classical architecture, an Italianate style of architecture was a distinct nineteenth-century phase in which Italian sixteenth-century For example, it is over thirty years older than Toronto's Romanesque Old City Hall. Toronto 's Old City Hall was home to its city council from 1899 to 1966 and remains one of the city's most prominent structures

However, owing to its sturdy construction, its interior has gone largely unchanged in the last fifty years as renovations would be both difficult and expensive, even in an empty facility. As such, it is considered badly outdated as a prison facility. Originally constructed to house 275 prisoners, its "rated capacity" is now 550, and its average prisoner load is about 620. In addition, as a "short-term" jail, it was not designed with adequate visitor facilities, exercise areas, telephones, lawyer meeting rooms, showers, or even laundry facilities. However, the average stay is 30-90 days, and many prisoners are kept there for months. Many attempts have been made to close it as politicians, international human rights organizations, prisoner advocate groups and even prison guards have decried its overcrowding and inadequate facilities. Human rights refers to the "basic Rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled A corrections officer, correctional officer, detention officer, jail guard, prison guard, prison warder, or prison officer Guards at the jail have even walked out in protest, on January 16, 2008 guards walked out of the jail in protest of the conditions causing a complete jail lockdown. However, despite several attempts to close the facility, it remains open primarily to deal with the large number of remand prisoners awaiting trial. It is often overburdened by a large number of arrested persons awaiting arraignment. Arraignment is a Common law term for the formal reading of a criminal Complaint, in the presence of the Defendant, to inform him/her of the charges It does not hold any persons actually found guilty of an offence.

The rear of the original Don Jail building, now out of service

The Don Jail in the 1860s

The Don Jail in 1899 as seen from across the Don Valley

Courts have taken judicial notice of the deplorable conditions in "The Don" and judge Richard Schneider set a precedent of crediting persons serving time in the facility awaiting trial with three days for every day spent in the facility. Judicial Notice is a rule in the Law of evidence that allows a fact to be introduced into evidence if the truth of that fact is so notorious or well known that it The judge noted that the prison no longer met the minimum standards set by the United Nations. The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security These conditions were also brought to light by a controversial article in the Toronto Star in which a reporter was smuggled into the prison by a sympathetic Member of Provincial Parliament, Dave Levac, MPP. The Toronto Star is Canada 's highest-circulation newspaper though its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario. A Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP is an elected member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada. Dave Levac (born April 6, 1954 in Brantford Ontario) is a Politician in Ontario, Canada. Mr. Levac faced censure for bringing in the reporter, although as an MPP he had a right to free access to the facility.

The jail was the subject of the first ever television news report on the CBC Television English network when the Boyd Gang, a notorious group of bank robbers, broke out of the facility for the second time. CBC Television is a Canadian English language Television network. Bank robbery is the Crime of robbing a Bank. It is also called a bank heist, especially in the United States. The news anchor was future Bonanza star, Lorne Greene. Bonanza is an American television series that ran on NBC from September 12 1959 to January 16 1973 Lyon Chaim Green OC, LLD ( February 12, 1915 &ndash September 11, 1987) was a Canadian Actor ^[1]

Before capital punishment was abolished in Canada, the Don was the site of a number of hangings. Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment. Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death Starting with the execution of John Boyd in January 1908, hangings at the Don took place in an indoor chamber, which was a converted washroom, at the northeast corner of the old building. Previously, condemned men had been hanged on an outdoor scaffold in the jail yard. The indoor facility was seen as an improvement because outdoor executions were quasi-public (at the hanging of Fred Lee Rice in 1905, crowds had lined surrounding rooftops to see something of the spectacle) and because the condemned didn’t have to walk as far.

The best-known Canadian hangmen, such as John Radclive, Arthur Ellis and Camille Blanchard, hanged men at the Don. Arthur Ellis may refer to Arthur Edward Ellis, English football referee Arthur Ellis (politician, Canadian politician The Toronto-based hangman Samuel Edwards, who worked during the Great Depression, carried out his first execution there in July, 1931.

Twenty-six men were hanged on the Don’s indoor gallows. The jail saw three double hangings: Roy Hotrum and William McFadden in August, 1921; Leonard Jackson and Steven Suchan in December, 1952; Ronald Turpin and Arthur Lucas on 11 December 1962. Arthur Lucas and Ronald Turpin were the last people to be executed in Canada, on December 10, 1962. Events 359 - Honoratus, the first known Prefect of the City of Constantinople, takes office Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Turpin and Lucas had each been convicted in separate murders, and their executions were Canada's last before capital punishment was abolished.

The jail is currently owned by Bridgepoint Health, which are retrofitting it to become part of the hospital. During the renovations human remains were found as part of an archaeological assessment.

Movies and Television

For the movie Cocktail (1988), starring Tom Cruise and Bryan Brown, the rotunda in the old section of the jail was redressed as an upscale New York nightclub. Cocktail is a film released by Touchstone Pictures in 1988. Cocktail stars Tom Cruise as a talented bartender who finds love while working Thomas Cruise Mapother IV ( born July 3 1962 better known by his screen name Tom Cruise, is an American Actor and Film producer Bryan Neathway Brown AM (born 23 June 1947 in Sydney) is an Australian actor A rotunda is any building with a circular ground plan often covered by a Dome. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous A nightclub (or "night club" or "club" is a drinking, dancing, and entertainment venue which does its primary business after dark

See also

• List of oldest buildings and structures in Toronto
• Correctional Facilities of Ontario, Canada
• Capital punishment in Canada

External links

• Reading Toronto: photo gallery
• "Human Remains found at Don Jail" - thestar.com

References

Coordinates: 43°39′58″N 79°21′14″W / 43.66618, -79.353972