Children's hospice to reclaim Governor's House

Children's hospice to reclaim Governor's House. A rendering of The Children's Hospice, which will repurpose the circa 1888 Governor's House near Gerrard St. E. and Broadview Ave. The disused building once housed the head of the Old Don Jail and his family, has sat vacant for more than six months. Photo/COURTESY

The circa 1888 Governor's House, which once housed the head of the Old Don Jail and his family, has sat vacant for more than six months as Bridgepoint Health embarks on a major redevelopment of its south Riverdale site.

The large two-and-a-half storey building at 558 Gerrard St. E. was used until recently as a clubhouse for guards from the neighbouring Don Jail.

The Philip Aziz Centre, an 80-volunteer strong organization that provides in-home practical, emotional and spiritual support to Toronto residents of all ages living with HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses, has big plans to completely gut the 5,000-square-foot building and double its size with a rear addition to meet standards set out by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

The organization shared its $6.5 million plan with community members at a Feb. 18 open house at the Riverdale Library.

"There's nothing like this in Toronto. This is an expansion of what we've been doing in the community already, serving people with life-limiting illnesses," said Rauni Salminen, Philip Aziz Centre's executive director, at the recent open house.

She also noted the site's proximity to the Hospital for Sick Children is an additional bonus as many patients would likely also be patients of the University Avenue hospital.

"This is another alternative to end-of-life hospital care or being in the home."

Gretchen Van Riesen, chair of the board at the Philip Aziz Centre, said the site is ideal because it's already zoned to be used for health-care purposes, not to mention the access to the neighbouring library as well as park land.

She also said a positive relationship has been cultivated with the neighbouring Bridgepoint Health. Future discussions will surely occur about partnerships between the two facilities, Salminen said.

Area residents Brian and Anna Barron attended the gathering.

"I think it's a great project. It's appropriate," said Brian, adding the hospice is complimentary to Bridgepoint Health.

"It's win-win. And it's going to keep the (Governor's) house."

Anna said she's looking forward to seeing something nice happening at the underused site.

"It's wonderful to see something finally happening to this property. It's a good foil to the Don Jail as well."

Once completed, the new hospice will have six palliative care beds and four non-medical respite beds for children of parents with life-limiting illnesses.

This service is the first of its kind, she said.

Philip Aziz Centre has been looking for a suitable site for a residential children's hospice for the last six or seven years. About four years ago, the home hospice care provider learned of the south Riverdale property. They've been in extensive discussions with both the City of Toronto as well as Bridgepoint Health ever since to lease it for a 50-year term.

With only five hospices for children across Canada, Salminen said the only option in Toronto currently for the family of a child with a life-threatening illness is to go to the hospital when out-of-home palliative care is needed for their child.

The Children's Hospice, as it's currently called, is designed to fill that void by providing quality respite and end-of-life care 24 hours a day, seven days a week by qualified professionals who specialize in pediatric care.

The new Toronto children's hospice will also offer ongoing family support, pain and symptom management, transition to home from hospital following surgery or illness and spiritual and bereavement care.

The average stay for medically fragile children would be two to three weeks in the home-like setting.

The concept of providing pediatric palliative care is somewhat new in Canada, and a hospice for kids has only been in existence since 1995 in Vancouver, B.C.

"(The topic) used to be taboo," Salminen said, adding that recent medical innovations have allowed children with serious life-limiting illnesses to live longer and better.

"Medical expertise is keeping these kids alive," she said, adding the life-saving treatments for children are seemingly unending.

Charles Rosenberg of Hilditch Architect was on hand at the recent open house to explain the design plans and answer community members' questions.

Overall, Rosenberg said he's designed a "very gentle building" and one that affords "ultimate flexibility" through an outdoor water feature, seating areas, a state-of-the-art Snozelen, multisensory, therapy room and a new main access point off the Don Jail Roadway.

"We wanted familiar elements, not clinical, not institutional."

In terms of the rear addition, Rosenberg said it would feature an open-concept design, a new staircase, an elevator and a dining area as well as a green roof concept on the third floor.

"The new addition is almost everything the existing building isn't," he said. "It was also important for us to create a building that was scale for children."

A small gatehouse on the site will also be repurposed for administrative uses.

Historian Sharon Vattay is a member of the design team from Goldsmith, Borgal and Co. Ltd. Architects. She assured every effort would be made to maintain the heritage building's character by, for example, incorporating some of the salvageable key features like crown moldings and fireplace surrounds.

"The idea is to preserve as much of the important heritage features as possible while allowing the building to be adaptively reused," she said, noting the objective of the rear addition would be to compliment, not necessarily mimic, the existing historical structure.

"Our goal is to maintain as much of the original historical configuration but we did have to add some walls to accommodate the new use."

Further, Vattay said efforts have been made to maximize the overall visibility of the heritage building.

Philip Aziz Centre volunteer Wayne Shilling served as a guide for those at the open house who wanted to take a tour of the Governor's House.

Shilling pointed out several problems with the existing building such as inadequate insulation and heating and electricity systems, water damage, pest and rodent problems, too narrow staircases, small closets and shoddy renovations.

"It looks like they've renovated this space three or four times and they've not quite gotten around to finishing it properly," he said.

"Essentially, a complete overhaul will be required because nothing is to code especially for a health-care facility," he said. "It will likely be a complete gut to the bones."

Next month, members of the city's committee of adjustment will decide if they will agree to a minor variance needed for the building's addition.

If all goes well, construction on the new hospice could begin in late summer and would wrap up in about a year's time.

So far, the non-profit organization has amassed about $3 million needed to build the children's hospice but another $3.5 million still needs to be raised to complete the project.

Visit www.philipazizcentre.ca for more information or to donate.