City council asks province to fortify Century Manor amid break-ins and vandalism
Motion sensors, security cameras and metal sheathing on windows and doors to be part of new plan
City councillors voted unanimously to ask the province to do more to protect and fortify Century Manor after recent break-ins and vandalism.
"There have been recent break-ins and vandalism at Century Manor which not only poses a significant threat to this important building, but also poses a threat to the health and safety of the public," John-Paul Danko, Ward 8 councillor, said during a city council meeting on Monday.
"It seems to be occurring more and more frequently ... this property is 100 per cent owned and the responsibility of the province of Ontario ... I don't have a lot of confidence in the province's interest or ability to secure this site."
Danko issued the motion for city council to communicate with the Ford government to create a plan to protect the building.
Ideally, the plan would include adding motion sensors, security cameras and metal sheathing on lower-level windows and doors.
Century Manor is one of Hamilton's oldest buildings and a last remnant of the Hamilton Asylum of the Insane.
It was built in 1884 as the East House for the Hamilton Asylum for the Insane. It had several functions over the years, including as a reception hospital, addictions and forensic psychiatry wings, and a school for adolescents. It closed in 1995.
One by one, the former asylum buildings have disappeared, starting with the grand Barton building in the 1970s. Now, Infrastructure Ontario owns Century Manor.
Mohawk College planned to buy land and expand its campus but the new PC government in 2018 backed out of the deal. The college is still interested in buying it.
The province recently said it would honour the heritage designation, but soon after, issued a zoning order to allow homes to be built on the land.
Danko says he's not sure what the province intends to do with Century Manor and said he hasn't heard from them.
He said he's worried the building could end up being burned to the ground.
"Coming up on Halloween, that's kind of like the plot of a horror movie here where the province then goes and builds an 18-storey condo, built for profit, on the charred remains of a 19th century psychiatric hospital."
With files from Samantha Craggs