A Pitch for Her Majesty’s Penitentiary

Because of all the buzz surrounding the Liberal government’s announcement for the construction of a new penitentiary to be sited in the White Hills, I thought it appropriate to republish a favourite letter of mine which appeared in the 9th of January 2015 edition of The Telegram. This is a suggestion as to what to do with the existing HMP on Forest Road. Many of you may have forgotten this, so it’s a good time to resurrect a novel idea.

As most of us know, there have been a great many problems for years now at Her Majesty’s Penitentiary located on the south bank of Quidi Vidi Lake in St. John’s. As a neighbor, and a regular lake walker for the past thirty-five years, I have a developed a certain affinity for the place. But it may be fair to say that HMP is the landmark that generally goes unnoticed by the droves of people who use the surrounding “Park”. (Here, I defer to the term favoured by the terribly missed John O’Mara, who is unfortunately no longer with us to defend the setting, as he vigorously and persistently did when he was alive.)

Some years back, the Quidi Vidi Rennies River Development Foundation recognized this area of the city as being a source of exceptional recreational activity and a springboard for environmental awareness. The foundation’s efforts, in combination with the activities of the Royal St. John’s Regatta Committee and its colourful history, have made Quidi Vidi a municipal and provincial treasure.

Our Provincial Government is in the process of preparing a master plan and functional program for a new penitentiary, recognizing that Her Majesty’s has long ago reached the end of its serviceable life. They are fully cognizant that the “pen” is detrimental to any hope of offender rehabilitation, and that it is endangering the health and safety of correctional staff.

In short, there is every indication that Her Majesty’s Penitentiary will, at some point in the not-to-distant future, no longer enjoy the stellar real estate of the lake shore.

According to Deborah O’Reilly of the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador, H.M. Penitentiary’s historic Centre Block was designed by the architect R.D. Hill of Birmingham, England in 1852 and constructed with the aid of inmate labour starting that same year, with completion in 1859. She observed that “…little remains of the original centre block, other than the exterior shell of massive English stone, roof trusses and the basement dungeon”. She goes on to say that this portion of the penitentiary is “valued for its superb stone materials, construction techniques and architectural style.”

It goes without saying, that this structure is a fascinating piece of our history and heritage that I believe should be restored and interpreted for citizens and visitors alike. It has the allure of any castle or fortress.

But this notion is secondary to what I would like to propose for the future use of this site in perpetuity. And the reason for putting this out there now is so that as a community, we have ample time to consider this rather unconventional idea.

This past summer my wife and I travelled to Ireland. Being an architect, I tend to completely wear her down by my habit of stopping and poking about endlessly at every cathedral, castle, ruin, monument and stonefence. However she is an avid and talented gardener, and we maintain the marital balance by me acquiescing to visit parks and gardens (again endlessly). One of our first of many such tours was to the Victorian walled garden at Lissadell House near Sligo. My reaction: “There’s a wall? That’s something to keep me entertained. Is it a big wall? What’s it for?” My babbling at the remarkable Kylemore Abbey gardens was similar.

Incidentally, these are both “not-to-be-missed” sites. The remarkable beauty of these gardens is breathtaking, even for an horticultural philistine such as myself.

So I am told that the Irish aristocracy wanted gardens just like the English, complete with fine herbs and exotic plants known only in southern climes. Only one problem. Irish weather really sucks.

So the Victorian engineering solution was to build these high walls in order to create micro-climates. Shelter from the relentless wind was afforded, and planting particularly exotic species adjacent to walls of southern exposure took advantage of the inherent thermal mass of these walls, re-radiating heat at night. (Although my observation was that there is rarely sun in Ireland, and when it does shine, it is an epic event.)

So, I contemplated, if this works in Ireland, why wouldn’t it work in Newfoundland?

And then it hit me.

We already have a walled institution in the centre of St. John’s! In a few years, we will have only the wall, as the institution is slated for the wrecking ball! A Victorian style walled garden is the seed of redevelopment. And we will need to plant that seed (literally and metaphorically) to keep this incredible piece of real estate out of the hands of developers – who would invariably put up condos or supermarkets. (I’m holding back here. Really. I am. Don’t get me started.)

So as that much loved local broadsheet The Scope used to say: here’s my Big Idea pitch.

We convince the provincial and municipal governments to work cooperatively to demolish all the post 1859 additions and restore the centre block as an interpretive “must-see” complete with cells and gallows and all that other stuff that kids love. We restore any eroded or damaged portions of the walled enclosure (and yes, remove the razor ribbon). We establish a non-profit foundation responsible for the design and realization of our Victorian walled garden. We add community greenhouses and a historic seed preservation bank. We sell the herbs and exotic edibles to local restaurants. We build a gorgeous little tea house / coffee shop. We connect to the Grand Concourse, the Geo Centre and MUN at the Battery. We let the tourists and cruise ship patrons pour in. We enjoy and revel in Quidi Vidi Park for the rest of this century, even more than we do today.

I wonder would anyone get behind this?