The Kingston Tennis Club opened in June 1924 on what is now the field of Winston Churchill Public School. Due to a decline in membership after the Second World War, the entire Kingston Tennis Club property was sold by its owner-members to Queen's University in 1953. The Club was incorporated on 29 April 1963 as Kingston Tennis Club Inc. The Club purchased its property back from Queen's University in 1997.
The group we now know as the Kingston Symphony was founded as the New Symphony Association of Kingston in 1953, and was so named to distinguish it from both Oscar Telgmann's Kingston Symphony, active from 1912-1938, and other, shorter-lived ensembles. The orchestra made its debut accompanying that same performance of The Creation in April 1954. Today, they have a full-time staff of two, a professional music director, a part-time staff of six, nine core and up to fifty-five community musicians, and they give over 20 concerts per season.
Kingston Suzuki Music Association
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Kingston Summer Theatre (KST) was a non-profit theatre company created in 1979 as a response to the lack of theatre groups in Kingston during the summer season. Each summer KST presented a season to the public consisting of three to four shows. They enjoyed great success during early years as the only group to present a summer season. The theatre group was run through a combination of paid staff and volunteers and supported by corporate and private sponsors, the Canadian government, fundraising efforts and ticket sales. KST was operated under the leadership of a salaried executive director and production manager with the support of seasonal paid staff and the Board of Directors.
KST embraced their role as a successful theatre company within the Kingston community. They accepted scripts from community members and encouraged the Kingston and Queens community to become involved in the summer productions. Many students from the Queens School of Drama and Music were employed by KST.
After ten years of successful productions, KST could no longer continue due to previously accumulated debts and increasing competition. During the 1988 summer season the Grand Theatre, where KST had been presenting shows for ten years, decided to split the theatre rental between KST and a new company, Silver Lining Productions. At this time it was not financially viable for KST to present half of a season. KST put a hold on their productions, but was unable to recover and disbanded.
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The Kingston Rowing Club was established at a meeting at City Hall on February 2, 1977. Michael Davies was elected President with John Armitage as Secretary and Terry Kelly as Treasurer. By April a novice men's and women's eight from KCVI were working out daily on the Inner Harbour in an old Pocock shell purchased from Princeton University. The boats were stored in the Whig Standard newsprint warehouse located at the end of a laneway off Rideau Street at Cataraqui Street. The new club's first gold medal came at the Ontario Summer Games in Kitchener in August with an upset win in the women's eight.
On May 28, 1978 the first major regatta to be held in Kingston, The Eastern Rowing Association High School Championships, took place. The sod turning for the clubhouse at Orchard Street Park took place at the Second Annual Kingston regatta on May 27, 1979. The new shell house was officially opened on May 25, 1980
In 1817 Lieutenant Governor Frances Gore granted to the Reverend George O'Kill Stuart, Rector of Kingston, and his Churchwardens, Charles Short and Hugh Thompson, Block G in Kingston, a wedge-shaped piece of land bounded by present streets King, Clarence, Wellington and Brock. The grantees were to serve as trustees to use lands and rents for the erection of a new enlarged Anglican Church (St. George's) and support of its Rector. The enlarged St. George's, construction on which started in 1825, was not built on this land but on the site of the current Cathedral on lots that were granted to Stuart and his Churchwardens in 1825.
The grant of Block G allowed rental of the land by leases up to 21 years with the rents to be used first to retire the debt and secondly to support the "clergyman who shall be resident and doing duty in the church about to be erected"(Archives of Ontario, Crown Land Special Grants, Liber D, folio 127).
It was not until 1836 that Block G achieved a new status. Faced with declining government support for the colonial church, Lieutenant Governor Sir John Colborne decided to activate the unused provision of clause 38 of the Constitutional Act of 1792 that allowed the governor to constitute and endow with land rectories within every parish. In February 1836, 44 rectories were created, including one for Kingston. The Reverend George O'Kill Stuart received as endowment Block C, adjoining the town and containing 18 acres, parts of lots 12, 13 and 14 in the 4th concession, Kingston Township containing 500 acres and lot 42 in the 3rd concession, Ernestown containing 200 acres. In 1837 when Stuart was inducted as Rector his Churchwardens conveyed their interest in Block G to him.
Thus were assembled the Kingston Rectory lands which were to provide financial support for the Kingston parish. Management of the fund varied but generally the Rector (later Dean) of St. George's and a committee administered the Fund.
Kingston Public Utlities Commission
Before Kingston was incorporated public utilities for water and light were non-existent. Only a few fortunate citizens had their own wells. Water was delivered by cart to the majority and fire crews generally had to bring their own water. Even after incorporation in 1838 the Town Council was not anxious t o assume responsibility for public utilities, and the first use of gas was brought about by a desire for profit. In 1847 the City of Kingston Gas Light Company was incorporated to provide lighting for streets and buildings. Most of the stock was held by the wealthier citizens of Kingston. Not long afterwards, in 1848, a bill to incorporate the Kingston Waterworks Company was presented to the Legislature by John A. Macdonald, at that time the member for Kingston.
In January 1886 the Kingston Electric Light Company was incorporated. The company supplied light, heat and power for Frontenac County. The use of electricity for street lighting began in 1888, and from this time on the correspondence of the City Committee on Fire and Light contains many petitions from citizens requesting street lighting. In October 1889 the Kingston Electric Light Company and the Kingston Gas Light Company agreed to merge. Competition was thus eliminated although the bill of amalgamation was actually dated 1891. The new company was called the Kingston Light, Heat and Power Company. A twenty year limit was placed on the charter after which the corporation of the City of Kingston was to be given the option of acquiring the company. Actually it was less than ten years before the company expressed its interest in handing over.
In 1876 the Kingston Street Railway Company was incorporated. In the early days the cars were horse-drawn and the tracks ran down the middle of the street. By the 1890's a new company, the Kingston, Portsmouth and Cataraqui Street Railway was formed and in September, 1893 an electric railway system was inaugurated with considerable publicity. The first of these three utility companies to be acquired by the city was the Kingston Waterworks Company on Oct. 1, 1887. It was placed under the direction of aCommittee of the City Council which was then referred to as the Water Works Committee.
By the early 1900's there was considerable public pressure for city acquisition of other utilities. There was belief that rates would be lower if control was in the hands of a body supposedly unconcerned with profits. In 1904 the voters were asked to vote on a by-law for the purchase of gas and electric utilities and a referendum was also submitted to decide whether the Water Works Dept. should remain under a committee of Council or be placed under the management of a Commission. A Commission was voted upon and this was the foundation of the system subsequently organized to operate the city utilities of water, gas, electricity, and, much later, transportation. The success of the water supply system was frequently cited as a precedent for public control over electric and gas utlities, but the city and the Kingston Light, Heat and Power Company were unable to agree on a price. In the spring of 1901 it was decided to resort to arbitration and outside evaluators were brought in to evaluate the plant and the powerhouse of the electric system and the gas plant (see Kingston City Records #1065). As a consequence on March 21, 1904, by-law #12, "A by-law to authorize the issue of debentures of the City of Kingston to the amount of $182,000 for the purpose of purchasing the works of the Kingston Light, Heat and Power Company" was ratified. This by-law was later scrapped and on February 13, 1905 replaced by by-law #17, "a by-law to authorize the issue of debentures of the City of Kingston in two issues to the amount of $82,000 and $100,000 respectively and to repeal by-law #12 (1904)." The price agreed upon was actually $170,373. The additional $12,000 was to cover costs and incidentals to the arbitration and the passing of the by-law.
From 1904 until 1913 the management of electricity and gas was under the direction of a Committee of Council on Light, Heat and Power. In 1912 this became known as the Committee on Civic Utilities. It was becoming apparent that the gas, electric and water departments would function more efficiently under one supervisory body. Problems were caused by the lack of coordination between the three departments. Therefore, in 1913, by-law #66, setting up the Kingston Public Utilities Commission was passed. There were to be five members: the Mayor (ex-officio) and four others elected at regular municipal elections. This Commission was to be responsible for policy. The actual operation of the three departments would be left in the hands of
a permanent staff under a general manager. On January 1, 1914, this system went into effect, and it has continued in effect ever since. The only major change has been that in 1962, after a plebiscite, the P. U. C. reluctantly assumed complete responsibility for the transit system. This was done because it had become obvious that it was a choice between no transit system at all or a publicly operated one.
In 1829 John Howard proposed founding an asylum for the mentally ill in Kingston. Before the widespread use of asylums, people with psychiatric conditions were placed in jail. In Kingston, they were placed in the basement of the penitentiary. In 1839, the House of Assembly allotted 3,000 pounds for the construction of an asylum; however, Toronto, with a larger population, was given priority in receiving the money. In 1859, Rockwood Villa, which was built for J.S. Cartwright in 1841, became Rockwood Asylum. In 1894, Charles Kirk Clarke assumed the position of Rockwood’s superintendent. Although he was not Rockwood’s first superintendent, he initiated some remarkable changes in the asylum, including the publication of “The Rockwood Review”, a monthly newsletter, as well building a gymnasium to encourage exercise among patients.
Under the leadership of Superintendent Edward Ryan, Rockwood Asylum’s name was changed to Rockwood Hospital and the Ontario Neuro-Psychiatric Association was instituted to expand avenues in clinical research as well as to bring mental health care professionals together. Ryan also persuaded the government to fund the development of the Mowat building to be used for recovering and rehabilitating individuals. In 1920 Rockwood Hospital’s name was changed again, this time to Ontario Hospital – Kingston. In 1936, after Thomas Cumberland and Archibald Kilgour had both resigned as superintendents, Ernest A. Clark assumed the role, encouraging client interaction with the larger Kingston community and introducing libraries into both the main building and the Mowat Wing. By the end of the Second World War, Joseph Stewart was superintendent and the hospital was grossly understaffed due to World War II. Three years later Roger Billings joined Ontario Hospital as director of the Mental Health Clinic.
By 1959, one hundred years after ground was broken, Rockwood patients were transferred to the new buildings constructed on the same property, and the former asylum eventually became known as 'The Penrose Building', which was a residence for people with disabilities. Penrose closed in 2000 and the historic building has sat empty ever since. During the 1960s, the hospital underwent many changes, making the atmosphere for clients more relaxed and positive. Brian Juniper introduced a music department for clients; John Pratten eliminated the hospital’s “locked door” policy; and a special unit for children and adolescents opened in the hospital. In 1965 the name Ontario Hospital - Kingston was changed to Kingston Psychiatric Hospital in an effort to encourage the people of Kingston to think about the hospital as a part of the community.
In 1971, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care eliminated the position of medical superintendent in provincial psychiatric facilities in an effort to democratize responsibility therein. The next year, Richard Van Allen introduced a series of co-operative homes to be run by patients with some help from students and hospital staff. 1975 marked a year of physical developments to the building itself: it was the year that the Beechgrove complex opened.
In March of 2001, after years of planning, the Kingston Psychiatric Hospital was divested from the province and placed under the authority of the Providence Continuing Care Centre’s Governing Board, joining St. Mary’s of the Lake Hospital and Providence Manor. The former psychiatric hospital’s name was changed to Mental Health Services. The future of the old stone asylum, closed since 1997 as a residence for persons with mental disabilities, is uncertain. The Providence Continuing Care Centre operates a newer facility that replaced the old hospital.