Doors Open Toronto at CAMH's historic wall

May 24, 2008 - May, 25, 2008
Historic wall, CAMH
1001 Queen Street West

Tours of the CAMH historic wall to be provided on the hour by Dr. Geoffrey Reaume during Doors Open Toronto 2008

In 1860, the southern section of the present CAMH historical wall was built by unpaid patient labourers at the then Provincial Lunatic Asylum, using a design from architect Kivas Tully. These brick barriers surrounded 50 acres of the asylum grounds but the east and west walls had to be torn down and re-built in 1888-89 when portions of land on these sides of the asylum were sold and the grounds were reduced to the present 27-acre site. Deterioration due to pressure from external sources along the west wall by the early 21^st century led to restoration work in 2007 which has now been completed, in part with the paid work of CAMH clients who were employed for this task.

The CAMH historic wall is the perimeter brick structure which was built by unpaid psychiatric patient labourers during the 19th century at the former Asylum for the Insane, Toronto, now CAMH. The southern section dates from 1860 and the eastern and western walls date from 1888-89. Visitors will be taken on a guided tour of portions of the wall during which the work and contributions of patients who lived and died behind this structure will be highlighted. These bricks include the oldest physical examples on the southern side of psychiatric patients' labour from 19th century Ontario and are thus are of immense historical and architectural value in understanding the lives of a group of people who have been so long subject to discrimination. A confining barrier when the asylum was in operation, the CAMH historic wall now serves to liberate the past for all who seek to learn about the abilities of psychiatric patients at Ontario's oldest psychiatric facility.

Updated April 07, 2008

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