KAWARTHA LAKES-A piece of Kawartha Lakes history is slated for demolition in the spring.
The eastern portion of the courtyard wall at the original Lindsay Jail, now the Old Gaol Museum, is structurally unsound and will be torn down in the spring of 2020 according to the City.
“There is an engineering report that the wall is not structurally sound and needs to be removed.” said Director Craig Shanks in an email to Kawartha 411.
The courtyard has been walled in since the jail was first built in 1863.
According to the Historical Society the courtyard is where hangings took place and where at least three bodies are buried. Gallows were constructed for each hanging and then removed. Couryards were also used by inmates for recreation and exercise, hard labour sentences and in the early days, the inmates chopped the wood that heated the town’s public buildings.
The courtyard walls were originally constructed of red brick, which would have been made by a nearby brickyard from local clay according to historians. After standing for 127 years the courtyard walls were replaced and built higher to prevent jailbreaks in 1990.
From 1985 and 1990 alone there had been three successful jailbreaks.
According to officials future use of the open courtyard has not yet been “fully determined”. There are reports it will be used for City parking but that has not been confirmed.