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Mimico Asylum
Repurposed Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Nov 15 2012
| Recent status | Repurposed |
| Location # | 5819 |
I won't get into an in-depth history of the old "Mimico Asylum". It was built in 1888, first occupied by patients in 1889 & closed in 1979. There are others that have researched it & its history can be found on the internet.
I'll get more into my use & experience of what was officially known as the Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital after a number of name changes over its lifespan.
As kids, when it was opened we explored & used the grounds, when it was closed we expanded our exploration to include the buildings. We used the grounds to play lacrosse, frisbee, football, golf, etc. We explored the empty buildings, played with things that were left, played hide & go seek & went looking for ghosts. There were underground tunnels that connected the buildings & the buildings were creepy, but also historic & beautiful. It was also a place to party, but we respected the place & were wise enough to use it, but not abuse it or force the authorities to act.
Almost immediately after the buildings were abandoned, the local community adopted it as their own park. People would walk the grounds during the day, have family picnics, climb trees & play various sports. It became the community's park & there was no way it would be taken back by the province. As there were various proposals & thoughts about what would be done with the property, including suggestions of demolition and/or selling it to developers. This was not going to be sold just so the government could pat themselves on the back with a balanced budget (i.e. 407 ETR). Now it is being used as a community park & most of the buildings have been restored. Most are now part of Humber College & some of the other buildings are used for various community programs..
It would be nice to see other communities claim their past & retake their lands. How about Millbrook? I shake my head when I hear of the stories of some of these abandoned places that do not allow anyone to us the lands. I'm proud that we forced the governments hand with this property. It probably helped that some of the politicians that supported the community park scenario were once the kids that explored & claimed the property 30+ years ago. ;-)
There is still one building that has not been restored, it is the Admin building. The building has pictures of windows on the boarded up windows & a picture of a door on the boarded up door. I'm sure it would have an alarm system & I'm sure the schools security monitors it. When we explored these buildings as kids, we didn't have security systems used against us, but we didn't have digital cameras in everyone's pocket. I'm afraid the only pictures I have are what's left in my head. My favourite building was Cumberland House, it was used as a school when the asylum was still open. This was kind of our own personal hang out in the summers of the early 80's. Not a bad place to have a few pops & watch them make a few movies, like Police Academy & Strange Brew.
This isn't really abandoned buildings anymore, it was for over 20 years. But it is a historic site & is worth the trip to view the property & the buildings. Bring a pair of skates if you go in the winter & you can skate a "skating trail" near the powerhouse on the southern part of the property.
Two films were shot here: Equus (1977) starred Richard Burton and Phobia (1980) starred Michael Glaser
From DARKMAN:
A friend recently told me he had gone on a tour of the tunnels under the old Mimico Lunatic Asylum which is apparently opened up to the public twice a year. He sent me the "cleaned up" picture included which inspired me to dig up an old shot I took down there in 1995. I found the wheel chair there as well as one of the patients-A very large black man in full hospital garb and a large bandage on his head. I kid you not. I don't have any pictures of the man unfortunately but several people would attest to that. I think that many long term residents of the facility knew of access points and wandered around down there frequently.
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I have heard of similar stories with Alzheimer patients, so I guess why not with the Psych patients. We used to talk & sometimes play with them in the 70's & occasionally saw a few out patients in the early 80's but I think if I ran into one in the tunnels in the mid 90's I probably would have pooped my pants.
So I went on the tunnel tour last weekend and asked straight up why a patient might be in the tunnels in 1995. Some of the patients that weren't released were transferred when this place closed. They didn't like their new place and would escape and go home. First place they would look when someone went missing. Pretty common apparently.
Thanks for the additions Motley, the pictures I took last year were from my phone, so I've been thinking that this location needs some better pictures. I would especially like to re-do my favourite building, the Cumberland House, which was a regular hangout for us as teenagers.
Back in the late 90's when renovations were underway me & some friends snuck into the tunnels under the north western dorm. It was hella creepy with a padded room with a large observation window. Several isolation bedrooms & old equipment.
the wheelchair may look newer because for a while now they have been running a haunted house (well more of a haunted asylum) out of this building during the halloween season. Im not sure if it was running back in 1995 but I went about 5 years ago and it was still running this past halloween.
Probably not everyone's musical taste but this is the video we shot down in the tunnels in 1995. You can see several shots of what it looked like and some close ups of the ceiling etc. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJzPwU4ujC4
I can't see it...should i delete this then? Me and my underground psych railroad guy are going back to the farm. They're coming to take me away apparently....
I don't know D, this story is peppered with paranormal/alienesque details I think old Perry would never loosen that pencil thin tie for it!
Another strange question just popped in my head...does that wheelchair look like its been there 16 years? Does the shirt or whatever look that old? Whats it doing there? How did it get there? I didn't bring it......that didn't seem odd then but I haven't seen this pic in at least 15 years...these tunnels were bolted tight....we had to pay to have them unlocked.
I would have dozens of pictures of this over those years as a background for band shots...it was kinda my go to location when I was stuck for ideas. lol.
Ok now you've got me obsessed with this....! I'm not sure of the building names but the stretch where the infamous flag pole is never seemed to be abandoned or in that rough of shape....I remember definitely noticing newer signs for some psych ward or something down that side....if there's a location on here already let me in damn it! I'm dying to see it!
So what would explain the man I saw? Five other people saw him too. Squatter in hospital clothes?
"various community & outreach programs" Yes of course, nothing to do with all the patients they just released to go live their lives normally one day. lol. Seems to be a gap in that part of the story. Maybe I saw a Humber student who was trying to play hookie....
My studio was in the area and I shot around there a lot between 1993 and 2001 and if that place was completely closed, I'll be a monkeys uncle. My first apartment was also a few blocks away between the years 1987-91, I've seen a lot of things there.
Arcadian Circle, home of Long Branch Arena. It would have been interesting if the Asylum buildings were restored to their original 'splendor' indoors. ;-) But you are right, Humber College has done a wonderful job & I am so thankful that they are being put to good use rather than having been demolished & made way for Condos or whatever.
I lived on Arcadian Circle for many years and watched the transformation of the once run down buildings into classrooms and dorms. Humber College has done a wonderfull job restoring these buildings which were on the brink of being torn down. There is also a cemetary on the property which holds a number of residents who passed over the years.
11 years ago
I was thinking of doing one of the tunnel tours with one of my kids, but I keep forgetting until after they are done. I also think I might be disheartened with how different they look. What did you think of the tour Darkman?