Before it was vanquished by the provincial government in 1994, Perth Prison, an imposing neo-Gothic stone fortress, was the site of three hangings. Now you can buy the 18 cells, the gallows, the fortified courtyard and the century and a half of history for $495,000. But put down that suitcase – Perth’s ‘Big House’ isn’t exactly move-in ready. Abandoned for years, with water pouring through a damaged roof and no air circulation, the prison has suffered its own punishment over time. Current owner Mickel Alexander is considering capping a row of cells at the 160-year-old Perth jail. (Stu Mills/CBC) Designed by famed Ontario architect Henry Horsey, whose name can be found on dozens of town halls, churches and courthouses between Napanee and Kingston, the 1862 structure is a peeling, faded and murky shadow of its former self. “As you can imagine, a prison doesn’t have windows that open,” said the convicted real estate agent to find a buyer. This week, Ian Shackell, his real name, punched the code into the broker’s lock box and opened the main door of the 160-year-old building. A wave of dirty, medieval-smelling air wafted across the sunny parking lot. “There’s no question, there are a lot of challenges,” admitted the agent, who said plumbing, electrical and extensive HVAC work will be needed. Estate agent Ian Shackell says prospective buyers of the Perth prison have proposed turning it into a boutique hotel or dormitories. (Stu Mills/CBC) Shackell said the tire’s enthusiasts had considered turning it into a boutique hotel, a residence for students at Perth’s Algonquin College campus just 300 meters away, an escape room or an apartment building. But this work will literally involve moving stone walls, many of them a meter or more thick. With the structure zoned for institutional use and protected by the city’s heritage rules, locking down a deal for the jail was difficult, Shackell said, although he said he has been assured Perth wants to “keep an open mind.” . If the challenges of the reno don’t deter the prospective buyer, the dark history of the three executions might. Many of the parts, including 18 prison cells, remain intact. (Stu Mills/CBC) Sentenced to death by hanging for the murder of his wife Catherine in 1910, Rufus Weedmark was allowed to visit his young children in the early hours, with reporters at the time describing the “extremely pathetic” scene. “Before his daughters left yesterday evening, his youngest child, aged six, climbed upon the knees of her doomed father, and looking into his face asked him, ‘Why don’t you come home with us?’ the Perth Courier reports. “Would you like to live there?” asked a neighbor, walking past the property with her leashed dog last week. She said her brother, a prison guard in the 1980s, had complained even then that his workplace was too dark and gloomy.
Pandemic problems for the owner
“Covid pulled the rug from under my feet,” said Mickel Alexander, an investor from London, Ont., who bought the prison in 2019 with plans to make a reality TV show about its history and rehabilitation. Delays caused by the pandemic, the skyrocketing cost of building materials and the steep price of the skilled labor that would be needed pushed the project out of reach. Alexander bought the property in 2019 with plans to film a reality TV show about rehabilitating the prison. (Stu Mills/CBC) “I came out here thinking I could do it for a few million dollars, but the experts are saying $20 million,” he said. However, calling himself stubborn, Alexander said he would like to see his television dream come true and offered to work with an investor who shares his love of historic stone buildings. The poor condition of the building has frustrated local historian Susan Code for decades. He said closing the prison in the 1990s was a politically motivated and cost-saving act. It was “a short-sighted decision – no thought for continuity,” Code said. With the heat shut off for years, the interior of the building has suffered. (Stu Mills/CBC)
