West Queen West CAMH Friday Story: Redeveloping the Queen Street Site

by Rob Sysak, August 11, 2017

CAMH is in the midst of a bold redevelopment project to transform our historic 27-acre site on Queen Street West into the mental health facility of the future.

We are building innovative treatment, research and education facilities that integrate with the surrounding neighbourhood and the grid of the city, featuring public spaces, parks, through-streets, and community amenities. Such a project will take time, as mobile platforms and the like come in to assist with construction, but it will be worth the result.

Also for this project may feature some potential building and restoration to the historic roof, which could take extra time once all costs and measures have been worked out, along with the extra safety precautions that may be recommended by the construction site inspectors, such as temporary construction guardrails or potentially stabilizers. Regardless of the possible extra time, it might be very beneficial to help with making the building more durable once finished.

This project is transforming the future of mental health by advancing care and changing social attitudes. These new facilities will hopefully make a big difference to those people who are suffering from mental health issues. The plan is for the buildings to be welcoming and attractive. Currently, the site is being constructed, so it is off-limits to the public for safety reasons. We’ve even got some danger to life signage around the site to make sure the public know that it could be dangerous on the site. We don’t want anyone getting hurt whilst construction is ongoing, so those signs help to reiterate that it is off-limits.

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A model of phases one through three of CAMH’s Queen Street redevelopment.

CAMH is currently embarking on phase three (1C), which includes two bold new hospital buildings: Complex Care and Recovery Building and the Crisis and Critical Care Building.

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Rendering of CAMH’s future Complex Care and Recovery Building.

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Rendering of CAMH’s future Crisis and Critical Care Building.

Phase one (1A) and phase two (1B) of our redevelopment are complete. Construction of phase three will start in fall 2017 with the buildings to be completed in 2020. Once staff and clients have moved into the new buildings, demolition of Units 2 and 4 and the maintenance building will take place through 2021.

Phase four (1D) ?is part of CAMH’s Vision and Master Plan. It is in the planning stages and, if approved, would replace CAMH’s existing facilities for those patients with complex mental illness who have encountered the legal system. Construction could start as early as 2021.

To receive bulletins and information about CAMH’s Neighbourhood Liason Committee meetings or for specific questions about the Redevelopment Project, contact CAMH’s Redevelopment Office at (416) 535-8501, ext. 33330 or send an email to: [email protected]