inspiring canadians to live better.

healthing leaf

inspiring canadians to live better.

healthing leaf
get healthing in your inbox with the morning checkup and weekender newsletter!

kingston to consider heritage designation for kingston penitentiary property

heritage designation for the former kingston penitentiary site would come after the federal government said it would be available for redeveloped for housing

by elliot ferguson
published mar 31, 2025
read time 1 minute read
join the conversation
read time 1 minute read
join the conversation
kingston to consider heritage designation for penitentiary property
kingston city council is to consider a heritage designation for the kingston penitentiary property. elliot ferguson / the whig-standard
kingston — a month after asking the federal government to remove the former kingston penitentiary property from a list of sites to be redeveloped into housing, city council is to consider a heritage designation for the site.
council is to consider a bylaw tuesday night to designate the 8.5-hectare property as being “of cultural value and interest.”
since shortly after its closure in 2013, the penitentiary has become the city’s top tourism attractions with thousands of people visiting the site each year.
“taken together, the structures, landscape, spatial arrangement and rich layers of meaning associated with kp comprise a cultural heritage landscape that has local, provincial and national significance,” a heritage report to city council stated.
“the federal penitentiary system has been a dominant part of kingston’s socio-economic life throughout most of its history. kingston has served as the premier focus of the federal penitentiary system in ontario from its inception,” the report stated. “kingston penitentiary has strong contextual value because of its importance in defining, maintaining and supporting the character and growth of portsmouth village and the city of kingston. it is physically and visually linked to its surroundings and is a landmark of national significance.”
story continues below
when it asked the federal government to remove the penitentiary property from the housing redevelopment list, city council suggested 340 hectares of federally owned land within the city limits that could be redeveloped instead.
elferguson@postmedia.com
elliot ferguson
elliot ferguson

elliot ferguson’s hands were ink-stained as a child from delivering his hometown newspaper and, since studying journalism at carleton university and photojournalism at loyalist college, he has continued to deliver the news. he started with the whig-standard in 2011, and prior to that worked for the woodstock sentinel-review and the simcoe reformer. elliot currently covers municipal affairs and the environment, but his true passion is photojournalism and visual storytelling. along the way he has collected numerous provincial, national and international awards for his photography and writing.

read more about the author

comments

postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. we ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. we have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. visit our community guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.