Project Turnaround

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Hello again explorers,

It's been a while since the last post, but do not fret - I have not yet hung up our flashlight or have decided to take pictures of flowers instead of dead, abandoned buildings . . . I have just simply been busy with kids. As a result of our efforts, I have manufactured three young urban explorers, one of which is now a teenager and ready to partake in the art of exploring one's environment.

To this end, I took the young fella, provided with the temporary nick-name of 'Rat-Stomper' (as a result of his unfortunate step into the messy remains of a rat), and headed out to a location rather familiar with us near Hillsdale, Ontario.

I had first visited Project Turnaround boot-camp for young offenders in August, 2004, just a few months after this privately operated facility closed its doors after the Province of Ontario moth-balled the facility. This facility was closed as a result of several issues including an indoor-mold issue but really was axed as a result in a change of government and with it, a change of views as how society deals with the rehabilitation of high-risk young offenders (between the age of 16 to 18.






















Anywhoos, one can see some images obtained during the first few explorations to this facility (link here) and then perhaps follow along with these most recent images to observe what nature does best - return everything to dust and a state of near-zero energy.






















That said, Nature has had some assistance . . . ass-clown vandals have found their way into the facility and have certainly made a proper mess of things. I have instructed the newest member of UrbeX Barrie, young 'Rat-Stomper' that should he ever find a vandal or tag-monkey to drop them quicker than a bad habit.

Happy and Safe Exploring everyone,
Expect several more posts from this season's explorations.
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Goderich Gaol

The Gaol (jail) here is Barrie was the subject of a previous post here. Due to a succession of modifications and renovations over the last 150 years, I was left without a sense of the structures 'original self'. To this end, I sought out it's sister, the Goderich Goal, which not only shares the same architect and design but has remained almost unchanged.










The Huron County Gaol was established as the jail for Upper Canada's Huron District. Construction took place between 1839 and 1842 using stone from the Maitland River Valley and from Michigan.



















The octagonal jail was designed by Thomas Young, modelled a Panopticon design first proposed by philosopher Jeremy Bentham in 1791. This design features a circular prison with cells distributed around a central surveillance station. Thomas Young also designed the Barrie gaol which shares a very similar design. The panopticon design at the Goderich jail, has an octagonal central block radiated two foot thick walls, with a height of eighteen feet. Encompassing these walls are perimeter or curtain walls of identical dimensions enclosing exercise yards and jail gardens.






















At the time of construction, the united counties of Huron, Perth, and Bruce required both a courthouse and a jail before they could gain official autonomy. To this end, a temporary courtroom and Council Chambers were set up on the jail’s third floor which was originally meant to be used as a chapel. It was in this makeshift Council Chamber that the first Huron District Council meeting was held on 8 February, 1842. The third floor was also used for church services and other public gatherings before proper buildings were available. The county courthouse was completed in 1856, in the centre of Goderich’s Market Square at which time, the jail .










In its time, the Huron County Gaol also served as a home for the aged, the insane, and the poor, in addition to the common criminal. The site ceased functioning as a jail serving Huron County in 1972 and inmates were then transferred to regional jails in Walkerton and Stratford.










Three inmates were hanged at the jail and two were conducted publicly. On 18 December 1861 William Mahone was hanged outside the jail walls.

An exterior wall of the jail was the location of the last public execution that occurred in Canada, when on December 7, 1869, Nicholas Melady was hanged for the murder of his father and step-mother. Edward Jardine was hanged privately on June 16 1911.Steven Truscott also awaited execution in the Huron County Gaol from September 30, 1959, when he was convicted of murder, until his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment on 22 January, 1960. Some of the notorious criminals who served time at the jail include individuals like the infamous James Donnelly of the Black Donnelly clan of Lucan, Ontario, at that time part of the County of Huron.

The Huron County Museum has done a very lovely job on restoration and now a museum in this historic structure.

Until next time, Happy & Safe Exploring !

Quick Note : My 'Magic: The Gathering' Blog, Lorwyn Unleashed, has moved to
www.MTG-Realm.Blogspot.com

Foggy Day

I love foggy days. Whether it is a cool summer morning as the sun is beginning to drive the dew of the ground or a late winter day such as this, it really does not matter to me. Today, the snow in Barrie is still laying heavy in all the open places but milder weather and temperatures are producing a healthy layer of fog.


I had a space of approximately 20-minutes to myself after dropping of my three kids and when I had to be at work today. What better way of killing this small amount of time than driving down to the waterfront and snapping a few pics.


It is somewhat like urban exploration, just without the abandonments.

One stop I had to make was the old Crazy Fox Restaurant & Bistro, now the beautifully restored elegant Shutters Restaurant.

The owner, developer Mark Porter had effected a stellar job in restoring and preserving this historically significant building. The restaurant's courtyard is sporting a formidable ice fortification installed in the spirit of Barrie's Winterfest, held last weekend.

Next door, the dead shell of the Allandale train station still stands. Recently, Barrie's City Council has begun discussing the possibility of using this abandoned station as the terminus for the GO train service line which now is located at the hamlet of St. Paul's just within the limits of Barrie's south end.

Of course, I had to also stop off at the Spirit Catcher at Barrie's waterfront. This iconic sculpture was erected (tee-hee) in 1987 and is one of the most recognisable landmarks in Barrie.

With only minutes to spare to get to work, I swung by the old Barrie Gaol. Not much is happening at this abandonment either. The facility receiving new roofing last year but for the moment, it is just taking up space which could be used for parking at the adjacent Court House.


Next time you are out and about in Simcoe County on a foggy day and do see a photographer, there's a good chance it's me.

Happy & Safe Exploring !

Kennedy Dentention Centre

The Kennedy Dentention Centre, also known previously as the St. John's Training School for Boys is located just outside the quaint, sleepy town of Uxbridge, Ontario. It's peaceful, pastoral setting sits in stark contrast to the horrors which took place within its walls.

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This place may be somewhat spooky to the Urban Explorer who may have researched the history of the facility before the physical exploration. To this end, we present an entertaining and somewhat spooky video . . .

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The St. John's Training School for Boys opened in 1956 and was operated by the (Catholic) lay order of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, which also operated a similar facility in Alfred (known as 'St. Joseph's, just outside of Ottawa).

Funded in large part by the province of Ontario, this facility housed orphans, truants, Children’s Aid Society referrals, juvenile delinquents, physically and perceptually challenged children, "incorrigibles" from reservation schools, and children of broken or poor homes which could not adequately support them. Both the Alfred and Uxbridge facilities were supervised by the Province.

In the late 1970's, St. Jospeh's closed its doors but the Province took over operation of the Uxbridge location making it a highly secure facility for young offenders until it was privatized under the Mike Harris regime. The Kennedy House Youth Services was awarded the contract in July, 2000.

More than 1,200 former residents of St. John's and St. Joseph's, suffered neglect and in some cases physical and sexual abuse at the hands of the Christian Brothers from the 1940s to the 1970s. A sweeping OPP investigation resulted in more than 200 charges against more than 30 people. The Catholic Church and the Christian Brothers later signed a $23-million reconciliation agreement and in 2004 the Ontario government formally apologized to the sexually and physically abused former residents. Charges ranged from "assault causing bodily harm" to "indecent assault" and "sodomy".

The Chapel within the main building was almost devoid of light (read: black as Hades). The empty and overturn pews, the large crucifix, and the facility history made this area of the abandonment a bit creepy.

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The Exploration

As most of the windows are tightly boarded, headlamps, flashlights and camera tripods are a necessity. The very low lighting conditions found within the interior also require cameras capable of taking longer exposures.

I was not altogether happy with the results of my photographic endeavours which simply means another return trip to this massive facility.

To say the secure lockup areas and spartan cells were less than cheery would be a gross overstatement. Although I am certain that you would have to be quite the bad-a$$ to find oneself a resident of such a facility as this, I am not convinced that every 'incorrigible' warranted a cell such as these.








The main building has an abundance of seemingly endless corridors flanked by countless rooms. I would suggest to the novice explorer that you take pains not to get turned around and possibly miss some of the more interesting rooms during your tour.

A large number of the rooms and workshops / classrooms exhibit a distressing lack of any decent taste in interior decorating. I strongly suspect that most of the wall paper and floor rugs (yes - even some shag carpeting) were 'end-of-the-roll' and discontinued product. Fugly-a$$ cr@p like this is discontinued for a reason you know . . .

Prior to this excursion, I touched base with respected fellow-explorer 'Boffo', who had just visited a month earlier. He had captured a very nice image of these clothes dryers which I found was a hard act to follow . . . Here is my attempt.


The industrial-sized kitchens at the Centre is appropriate to nature and scale of a 100-bed detention facility. I imagine that every meal prepared here was made with love. I also imagine that staff ensured that all cutlery were accounted for after each meal.









If washrooms happen to be thing, make haste to this place. One cannot swing a cat and not hit one (not that I believe cat swinging is an acceptable activity). Within the open-custody areas, each room was equipped with a sink and shared a toilet and shower with the adjacent room. In the secure detention areas, occupants of each of the nine cells were allowed out by the guard to the common washroom.










Washrooms and shower rooms in other parts of the facility were equipped with strange and rare accoutrement and fixtures such as 'ball-and-socket' clothing hooks (?wtf?) and these very cool wash basins. I am not certain what possessed staff to box in the drains under the urinals - perhaps the residents were scavenging piping for some evil purpose.

And the reason you scrolled all the way down here . . .
the 'Money Shot'
. . . no exploration is quite complete without one.