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PAGE 20, WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2,1988 ATWI IITB Y PS YCHIA TRIC HOSPITA L Preserving a rich past By Debbie Luchuk One of Whitby's most historie landmarks, and quite rich in architectural beauty, is the Whitby Psychiatrie Hospital. With future plans by the Ministry of Health to remove most of the existing buildings as part of reconstruction ahd program changes, a community advisory board is now gathering the history of the instit~ution for an "informa]" archives. The group is - hoping to preserve the history of the hospital by resurrecting artifacts and equipment no longer used by the hospital and placing them in a museum on site. Chairman of the history committee, John Charlton, says that the group hopes to retain DORMITORY buildings for prisoners tion of the psychiatric hospital in May, from the provincial reformatory in 1913. Guelph. The prisoners began construc- Photo courtesy of Whitby Psychiatric Hospital archives THE THEATRE building, used as a World War 1. military convalescent hospital during Photo courtesy of Whitby Psychiatric Hospital Archives VIEW OF THE theatre building and grounds, from 1913. other buildings on* the hospital PhotocOurtesY of Whi tbyPsychiatriclospitaArchives JOHN CHARLTON They had received a daily or weekly allowance of Macdonald one of thé more ornate anc unique cottages for this purpose. "We hope to establish i collection of artifacts typical o the hospital's past, to found E museum for education and the general interest of both the hospital and the community, to compile a history of the hospital and to produce the history ir audiovisual form," Charlton said. "We're in the process o collecting artifacts, cataloguing, proceeding with interviews ol past employees, even ex-patients with the view of getting their version of what it (life at the hospital) was like. But there's nc due dates on anything," Charlton continued. A picture album has been compiled of photos of the various buildings "in the event that they are destroyed." Charlton said that there are seven "enthusistic" members on the history committee, and that the group meets once a month. The collection compiled thus far is housed in a building housing the library and a meeting room, in a former classroom. The buildings that the com- mittee are interested in preserving · physically or in photographic accounts are architecturally significant, accor- ding to Charlton. "The architecture is typical of early 1900 to 1912. Some washrooms are marble, the tiles are unique, being made here (at the hospital). It represents a move from an institutional environment," Charlton said. Several accounts of the history and various events have been collected by the committee. The following is taken from accoünts in the , Whitby Gazette and Chronicle of 1911, Ministry of Health reports of approximately the same period, and an official history compiled by C.J. Hinke, from a history compiled by Alojzy Frankowski. The hospital was a model for other mental institutions, and was visited constantly by mental health professionals interested in the new, more relaxed mental health treatment environment. With advances in mental health care and treatment, the hospital was at one time a revolutionary new arrangement for the treatment of mental illness. To relieve overcrowding at Toronto's Queen Street Hospital, Whitby's Ontario Hospital for the Insane was conceived, con- structed and administered by James Moffat Forster, with new ideas from Europe on institu- tional care. The architects of the buildings were James Govan, F.R. Heakes, George N. Williams, Govan Ferguson Lindsay etc., Jackson Ypes and Associates and D.G. Creba; all provincial or related employees. The property was acquired for a total of $128,000, and possession was given to the Province on April 1, 1912. Construction of temporary dwel- lings began on April 29, under the" direction of the institutional :arpenter from the Toronto lospital for the Insane. Seven patients made up the work crew. The farm on site was :ultivated after construction of the temporary dwellings for a patient farm 'crew, in order to provide vegetables for the Toronto lospital. Construction on the hospital .tself began on May 6, 1913 with L00 inmates from the provincial -eformatory at Guelph doing the ,vork. The prisoners went on strike during the period of :onstruction, holding up con- struction for a weekend. towicz, at 655-4051. tobacco, and this brand had run out. The substitute brand was not a to the prisoners' liking, and they f decided to strike to get Macdonald tobacco. According to an account in the Whitby Gazette and'Chronicle of January 1913, "they were given solitary confinement and a taste of the "cat." The strike ended with this punishment. In 1916, the hospital was used as a convalescent home for returning invalid soldiers, despite the fact that the hospital construction was held up by World War I and a lack of materials and men. In 1919, the dairy barn was completed, and was said to be the largest and most modern barn in the province, with accommoda- tion for 80 head of cattle, freshening pens, calf stalls and feed rooms. As well, the farm boasted a horse stable, a piggery, and two poultry houses. The wood was manufactured in the mill on the job. Construction continued through 1919, and living facilities for the hospital attendants and maintenance personnel, and the farm administrator were built. The first cotlages and build- ings are considered quite remarkable for 'their marble walls, unique air flow systems and other articles of architectural interest. Cottages - for the accom- modation of mentally ill patients reflected a dramatic change in the approach to institutional treatment. No longer was the mental!y ill patient to belcked away in a large building with other patients. The cottages provided a close-to-normal environment, and a feeling of freedom. For instance, the terni "asylum" was replaced in 1913 with the name "hospital" for all provincial mental health insti- tutions. Provision ,was made for voluntary admissions and prevention of such patients' involuntary detention in hospital. Local boards of directors were composed of various officials of the community to inspect the hospitals four times a year. The patients were divided into groups, permitting the clas- sification of patients and more effective treatment. The official history of the hospital said: "Whitby was to have better facilities for making the daily life of the inmates more like that of a sane community." Construction of the buildings in the original plan was completed in 1925. The farm continued in use until the mid-seventies, Charlton said, and the barn burned on Nov. 6, 1976. Besides providing the hospital with food, the farm operation provided therapy and rehabilitation for patients at the hospital until there was some outcry against patients being used as "slave labor", Charlton said. The history committee would like te hear from anyone with pictures, artifacts and oral accounts of history; past em- ployees and ex-patients. "For people we can't 'reach by visitation, we will send out questionnaires. We're in the process of establishing interview times and sending out questionnaires," Charlton said. "We're serving the past for the present." For more information, or te offer assistance to the history committee, contact the hospital or chairman of the community advisory board, Jean Achma-