Waterloo County Gaol

{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2026}} {{use mdy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox Historic Site | image=Waterloo County Jail and Governor's House.jpg | caption=The governor's house, connected with the former county gaol. | name=Waterloo County Gaol | type = Prison | location = Kitchener, Ontario, Canada | coordinates = {{coord|43|27|8.1|N|80|29|11.7|W|type:landmark_region:GB-MON|display=inline,title}} | architect = David W. Gingerich (Governor's House), Mellish and Russell (Gaol) | built = 1852-1853 | designation1 = Ontario Heritage Act | designation1_date = 1981 | architecture=Victoria Italian Villa Style, Classic Revival }}

The '''Waterloo County Gaol''', located in Kitchener, Ontario, is a retired prison and historic site. Constructed in 1852, it is the oldest government building still-standing in the city.<ref name="CHP">{{cite web |url= http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=9216 |title= Waterloo County Jail and Governor's House |website= Canada's Historic Places |access-date=July 1, 2015 }}</ref> The Governor's House, home of the "gaoler", in a mid-Victorian Italian Villa style, was added in 1878. Both have been on Canadian Register of Historic Places since 27 March 2008.<ref name="CHP"/> Both buildings have been extensively restored.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/discoveringTheRegion/resources/Kitchener.pdf |title=Discovering the Region |author= |date=2015 |website=Doors Open, Region of Waterloo |publisher=Region of Waterloo |access-date=March 23, 2017 |archive-date=August 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829164706/http://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/discoveringTheRegion/resources/Kitchener.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> They are located at 73 Queen Street North, Kitchener, Ontario beside the new Court House. ==History== The precursory requirement for the creation of a county in the 1850s was the presence of a local gaol and courthouse.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://row.minisisinc.com/page/detail/PUB_AUTHORITY/378 |title= Kitchener Jail |author= |website= Region of Waterloo |access-date=July 1, 2015 }}</ref> In deciding the seat of Waterloo County, a seat for which Berlin and Galt were both competing, the presence of such buildings was taken into account. Because Berlin, Ontario (now Kitchener) had a gaol and courthouse, the city became the county seat.<ref>{{cite book |last= Uttley |first= W. V. |date= 1975 |title= A History of Kitchener, Ontario |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofkitchen0000uttl|url-access= registration |location= Waterloo, Ont. |publisher= Wilfrid Laurier University Press |page= [https://archive.org/details/historyofkitchen0000uttl/page/83 83] }}</ref>

The gaol had been constructed on land donated by hotel owner Frederick Gaukel. Work began in 1852, the year of the inception of Waterloo County, Ontario. It was designed by the architectural firm Mellish and Russell of Brantford, Ontario who used a Classic Revival style. The cost of the construction in 1852 was £4875. For over a century after its completion, the gaol was administered municipally, although this changed after 1968, as the government reformed the administrative system of Ontario's prisons. The addition of the governor's house in 1878, designed by architect David W. Gingerich, served as the gaolor's residence for the next century of the facility's operation.<ref name="CHP"/>

Closed in 1978 to be replaced by the Waterloo Regional Detention Centre, the building is now a heritage site. After the closing, the building was the subject of a 2002 feasibility study aimed at converting the former prison into an affordable housing project.<ref>{{cite book |last= Tasker-Brown |first= Julie |date= 2002 |title= A Feasibility Study for the Waterloo County Jail and Governor's House Conversion |url= http://www.fcm.ca/Documents/case-studies/ACT/Live_Work_Space_A_Feasibility_Study_For_The_Waterloo_County_Jail_and_Governors_House_Conversion_CS_EN.pdf |location= Ottawa, Ont. |publisher= Canadian Housing and Information Centre |access-date=July 1, 2015}}</ref> thumb|Gaol and Governor's House

Both the house and gaol reopened after major renovations. The section that was the gaol now houses courtrooms while the area that was the house is now the location of the offices of the court and other agencies.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/discoveringTheRegion/resources/Kitchener.pdf |title=Discovering the Region |author= |date=2015 |website=Doors Open, Region of Waterloo |publisher=Region of Waterloo |access-date=March 23, 2017 |archive-date=August 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829164706/http://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/discoveringTheRegion/resources/Kitchener.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author= |title=Crime Prevention Council Moves |url=http://www.pressreader.com/canada/waterloo-region-record/20150917/281887297098404 | work=Waterloo Region Record |location=Kitchener |date=September 17, 2015 |access-date=March 23, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/discoveringTheRegion/resources/DOORS_OPEN_PAST_SITES_-_2015.pdf |title=Doors Open 2015 |author= |date=2015 |website=Region of Waterloo |publisher=Region of Waterloo |access-date=March 23, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://communityedition.ca/if-streets-could-talk-civic-centre-district/ |title=If Streets Could Talk: Civic Centre District |first=Seth |last=Ratzlaff |date=November 3, 2016 |website=Community Edition |publisher=WLU |access-date=March 23, 2017}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Defunct prisons in Ontario Category:Buildings and structures in Kitchener, Ontario Category:History of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo Category:Prisons in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo Category:Designated heritage properties in Ontario Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1853 Category:1978 disestablishments in Ontario Category:1853 establishments in Canada Category:Victorian architecture in Canada Category:Neoclassical architecture in Canada