Former guards reflect as 174-year-old Chatham-Kent jail prepares for transformation
CBC
The Chatham-Kent Jail was built in 1850 and will soon be turned into an apartment complex — its former guards have stories to tell and they are giving tours before the conversion takes place.
Dave Arnold worked at the jail as a corrections officer from 1990 to 2014, when the jail was shut down.
He recalls when the last semi-successful escape from the facility happened in the late 1990s.
He says the inmate managed to get out of the facility by digging a hole through the plaster ceiling and crawling in.
"He kicked out a roof vent [and] shimmied down a drain pipe," Arnold said.
He says the jail was alerted to the escape by a neighbour who saw what was happening.
But the inmate did manage to evade the guards and stole a car.
"He just happened to look around and there was a case of beer in the vehicle with him."
Arnold says the escapee eventually rolled the vehicle on the 401 while trying to make his getaway.
"An OPP cruiser came to investigate it and saw the man was still wearing orange and put two and two together and bingo, he's rearrested," Arnold said.
Watch Arnold tell the story of what he says is Chatham-Kent Jail's last escape:
Arnold is joining two other former guards giving tours of the jail and an adjoining courthouse until September — before they are gutted and turned into an apartment complex.
The developers of the buildings are not changing the exteriors as they are designated as a heritage site.
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