Reimagine Kingston Penitentiary — A Museum for the Past or a Sanctuary for the Present?

Every May, thousands of visitors step inside the stone walls of Kingston Penitentiary to experience a guided tour of Canada’s most iconic prison. They walk through cell blocks, hear stories from former staff, and marvel at the grim architecture that defined incarceration for over 180 years.

But just outside those walls, another story unfolds — not from the past, but in the present. Kingston’s downtown streets are increasingly occupied by Canadians who are visibly struggling: individuals battling mental illness, addiction, and homelessness. They are not tourists. They are citizens left behind by systems stretched thin, and the city is visibly bearing the burden.

The question we must now ask is simple: Why are we preserving empty cells as historical attractions while living, breathing Canadians suffer without shelter, treatment, or dignity just steps away?

It’s time for Kingston Penitentiary to serve a higher purpose.

Addressing the Reality on Our Streets

Kingston, like many Canadian cities, is facing an urgent mental health emergency. Emergency rooms are overwhelmed. Shelters are full. Policing costs rise while real recovery rates remain dismally low. People are falling through the cracks and onto our streets — and that reality is hurting everyone.

Tourism cannot flourish where there is visible human suffering. Downtown business owners quietly worry. Visitors see things they didn’t expect. Locals feel helpless. And still, year after year, millions of dollars go into preserving a prison for entertainment while the crisis grows on our sidewalks.

A New Vision for an Old Fortress

Let us be clear: preserving our history is important. But so is responding to the crises of our time. Repurposing Kingston Penitentiary into a secure, state-of-the-art facility for those with chronic mental illness and substance abuse issues is not just a social responsibility — it’s a strategic imperative.

The infrastructure already exists. The prison’s design includes individual units, large-scale facilities, and security features that could be adapted for compassionate therapeutic care. Instead of cells that echo with history, imagine recovery suites, wellness clinics, and safe housing spaces for people in crisis.

We are not proposing a return to confinement, but a pivot to care. Done right, this would not be an institution — it would be a sanctuary.

The Case for Change

Repurposing Kingston Penitentiary into a therapeutic care facility would offer three key public benefits:

1. Human Dignity: Mental illness and addiction are health issues, not criminal ones. We owe people the opportunity to recover in safety and dignity, not on a sidewalk or in a holding cell.

2. Public Safety and Civic Renewal: Addressing these challenges head-on would help restore safety, cleanliness, and pride in our urban core. A healthier city is a more vibrant, prosperous one.

3. Cost Efficiency: Housing someone in a hospital bed, jail cell, or shelter costs far more than providing them long-term therapeutic care. This is not just a moral decision — it’s a fiscally responsible one.

A National Opportunity

With the right leadership, Kingston could become a model city for a new approach: one that blends heritage preservation with human restoration. Some areas of the Penitentiary could remain open for limited educational tours, preserving our past. But the majority of the space should serve our present and future — helping people rebuild their lives with proper care, support, and stability.

Let’s stop walking tourists through empty cells while vulnerable people lie curled up on grates.

Let’s be a city that doesn’t just remember its correctional past, but corrects its course, and leads by example.

It’s time for Kingston Penitentiary to serve the living.