Demolition of Stratford’s first hospital is underway and expected to be completed by late December.
After a spirited campaign to keep Avon Crest intact by a local volunteer organization, the road to a new healthcare building on the site is physically underway.
A 128-bed long-term care home is expected to be built and operated through a partnership between the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance and Revera Canada, though it is expected that it will take some time before shovels are in the ground for that new build.
StratfordToday was able to tour through the hospital (see gallery for images), which has been closed to the public and in a state of disrepair for many years. The building has a colourful history, often debated - before it was built all the way up until its fate was recently decided.
Built in 1891, stories about Avon Crest’s beginnings almost always surround the public zeal for the region’s first hospital, though that wasn’t always the case.
A Stratford Beacon Herald article on the hospital’s Golden Jubilee notes that prior to Stratford being incorporated as a city the idea of a hospital was brought up, though the townspeople were not interested.
It wasn’t until 1888, after the City of Stratford was officiated and the Grand Trunk Railway locomotive repair shops were established, that the movement for a hospital was reinvigorated, spurred by the city’s growth.
That same year a meeting “of representative citizens” was called, attended by an assortment of reverends, current and ex-mayors, and aldermen.
At the meeting the first investment to what would become Avon Crest was committed: $5,000. A few days later the City of Stratford General Hospital Trust was incorporated. From there, more and more donations flowed in from various people in the region.
Reportedly, Stratford women in particular led a comprehensive fundraising movement, hosting theatrical performances and bazaars for the trust.
By March 8, 1890, $9,248.40 had been donated to the fund. By June of that year, the City of Stratford donated $2,000, five acres of land in Avondale Park, and the County of Perth matched that monetary donation.
George F. Durand was the architect for the hospital, his initial designs praised by the provincial inspector of public institutions at the time. Based in London, Ont., Durand was also the architect of the Perth County Courthouse, the Stratford Jail, and the Stratford Waterworks, currently Gallery Stratford.
His entire design was listed as “the tower, two wings, four public wards of 32 beds and 10 private wards.”
The original building was 102 feet long, 36.5 feet wide, and three storeys high.
In Victorian Architecture in London and Southwestern Ontario by Nancy Tausky and Lynne D. DiStefano, it was noted that the building was originally going to be built in stages, with the tower and one wing being built immediately and the other to be added when funds were available.
“It seems likely that the proportions of the various parts in Durand’s design were chosen with an eye to its appearance as an asymmetrical structure,” the passage on Avon Crest reads, “but such foresight proved unnecessary.”
Due to an extremely effective fundraising campaign the full hospital was opened in 1891, completely debt-free.
An article published in the Beacon Herald circa. 1941 noted that on the day of its opening 'flags were flying from homes and from business places'. Nearly everyone in the city had donated either money, furniture, or something else to the hospital and felt that its opening was a momentous occasion to be celebrated by all.
When the Honeymoon ends …
Avon Crest, which was called Stratford General Hospital up until the current Stratford General Hospital was built, went through the typical ups and downs of a regional hospital. It wasn’t until the mid-20th century that the administration began to look beyond the original building.
What would become the current Stratford General Hospital was first brought up in a March 1945 report, which indicated that a larger hospital was not only needed due to demand, but plans for one would be put forward “shortly.”
The following year, plans for a hospital that would serve Stratford, Perth County, and the wider district were published, along with artistic renderings of a site plan.
Avon Crest, it was said, was often overcrowded and had a long wait list. Although an addition could have been added, that was ultimately not the direction that the hospital administrators decided upon.
In an ad published in the Beacon Herald, the 13.5-foot-tall ceilings of Avon Crest were highlighted in particular. If an addition was installed then the floor levels would have to conform with that measurement, even though 10-foot ceilings “would be plenty.”
“Why tie ourselves down to repeating this mistake?” the ad reads. “Why waste money to build walls higher, when the same money might much better be spent on providing more floor space for more beds?
“In other words, it would be better to build OUT than UP.”
By 1948, the cornerstone of the Stratford General Hospital was laid by Russell T. Kelley, then Ontario Minister of Health.
Meanwhile, Avon Crest was made into a chronic and convalescent ward. After extensive renovations, it was reopened in 1955, now finally taking on the current name.
The convalescent facility operated out of Avon Crest until 1990.
Avon Crest later went on to accommodate hospital administration until 2018 when it was outright abandoned.
'We haven’t heard the last of the old hospital'
In an article published in the Beacon Herald in September, 1952, an unnamed author wrote, “ghosts, they say, have a habit of walking. We haven’t heard the last of the old hospital.”
In a 2006 architectural assessment done by Heritage Stratford, the Avon Crest building was given a score of 26 out of 32. Any score over 20 warrants some effort to be made for heritage designation, the score sheet reads.
The general condition scored a three out of five, or “very good,” at the time.
It should be noted, however, that the assessment is a preliminary review done from the street, only based on what is visible to passers-by.
Heritage designation was attempted recently. After the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance (HPHA) announced that a new long-term care facility will be built on the Avon Crest property – after Avon Crest was demolished – delegates passionately petitioned Stratford City Council for designation in order to save the old hospital.
Andrew Williams, president and CEO of the HPHA, said that if the building was to be refurbished and retrofitted, rather than demolished and built upon, it would cost more than $24 million.
Williams told StratfordToday there is a real need in the community for long-term care beds. He called the project transformative and aligned with the primary accountability of the HPHA to provide local, high quality, accessible health care.
“The collective feedback we’ve had is if you want the site developed then it needs to be rebuilt,” Williams said.
Save Avon Crest, the local heritage preservation group, asked for it to be repurposed and reused.
"This is an important heritage building, it is an important piece of Canadian architecture, an important piece of Canadian hospital architecture," said spokesperson Howard Shubert, an architectural historian, author and former curator at the Canadian Centre for Architecture.
The group includes a steering committee, including an architect, lawyer, a planner and others with historical interests. Save Avon Crest amassed a petition, met with community groups, started a website (http://saveavoncrest.ca), and visited the local public high school to discuss their efforts.
They also discussed saving the property with elected officials.
"The goal has always been to raise awareness and change opinions," Shubert said during their efforts to save the building.
Williams has said fixing up the building to a workable condition would cost millions and demolishing the building is the correct business decision.
After heritage designation failed, a group of concerned citizens began to hold vigils in front of the hospital, stating that if the building is still standing then there is hope for Avon Crest.
Jane Marie Mitchell, one of the citizens holding vigil, told StratfordToday that it was a long summer for the advocacy group.
“But it’s still standing and we’re still here.”
In the demolition process of Avon Crest, 10,000 of the original yellow bricks will be preserved in the hopes they will be used for any new development on the site.
- with files from Paul Cluff/StratfordToday
