November 2021 | Eyesore

Commentary on architectural blunders in monthly serial.

Behold, the alluring paint-job on the abandoned St. Joseph’s Hospital in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada — a land renowned for its horrifying buildings. This head-shaker of a humdinger — called by locals “the once-a-year Halloween Zombie Hotel” — is the result of a backroom deal nine years ago by the City of Sudbury Council to sell the old thing to a private developer for $1. They proposed to build a conference center, including a hockey rink, casino, and four-star hotel. Original minds, I’m sure. It happens that the old hospital occupies a few acres of Sudbury’s Bell Park, fronting lovely Ramsey Lake. The Sudbury council had the chance to sell it to the Province of Ontario for $1. The deal would have included razing the building, remediating the brownfield, and reincorporating the site into the park. They passed on that. After all these years, kinda looks like the developer passed on the rink-casino-hotel, too.

Thanks to Evan Roberts for the nomination.