Kingston Penitentiary
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Kingston Penitentiary is a maximum security prison located in Kingston, Ontario between King Street West and Lake Ontario. Originally constructed in 1833-34, and officially opened on June 1, 1835 as the "Provincial Penitentiary of the Province of Upper Canada," it is one of the oldest prisons in continuous use in the world. Its western wall is the eastern wall of the Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, which hosted the sailing events for the 1976 Summer Olympics. Immediately across the road is the Kingston Prison for Women, officially opened on January 24, 1934 to take female prisoners who had originally been housed in segregated quarters in the Kingston facility. The Kingston Pen's imposing grey limestone walls give it the appearance of a massive 19th century fortress.
In 1971, a riot at Kingston Pen (or "KP" as it is locally known) lasted four days and resulted in the death of two inmates and destruction of much of the prison. Security was substantially increased and prison reforms instituted. Today the facility houses between 350 and 500 inmates, all in individual cells.
The Kingston Pen is home to many of Canada's most dangerous and notorious criminals. Kingston is home to nine prisons, from low-security facilities to maximum-security facilities like Kingston and Millhaven Penitentiary.
In 1999, prisoner Ty Conn escaped from within the prison, a feat that had previously been accomplished on at least 26 occasions beginning in 1836. The last such escape over the wall, prior to Conn's, occurred in 1958. He was later found in Toronto, but died from an accidentally self-inflicted gunshot while speaking on the telephone to a Producer from the CBC.
External links
- Official site (http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/facilit/institutprofiles/kingston_e.shtml)