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Toronto, July 14, 2003: More than 100 submissions made to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health's Open Ideas Competition on the future of its historic east wall will be on display at the rotunda in Toronto's City Hall from July 14th to July 17th. The public is invited to view the design ideas on the main floor of the City Hall at 100 Queen Street West from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and the City of Toronto jointly held an Open Ideas Competition to seek broad community input into the design of the historic east wall at Queen St. West and Shaw St. in Toronto's west end. The redesign of the east wall will be part of the proposed redevelopment of CAMH's 27-acre Queen Street site.

"In many important ways, this Ideas Competition goes well beyond the limits of usual design competition," explained Councillor Joe Pantalone. "As a jury member, I was thrilled with the range of submissions -- not only from the professional communities, but also from the people who have received mental health and addiction services and local grass roots communities. The diversity of creative imagination focused on a single subject is simply stunning."

The winning design ideas were selected by a jury from the 127 submissions made by local community members, artists, staff, architects, conservation groups, people who have experienced the mental health and addiction system and an entire class at the Ontario College of Art and Design.

The winning ideas were submitted by Carlos Moreno and Cassie Kent and Janet Rosenberg and Glenn Herman with artwork provided by Lynn Donoghue. Three designs also received honourable mention, and five were designated as finalists.

"Showcasing the design ideas in the City Hall rotunda will provide an excellent opportunity for the public to view these innovative and creative submissions. We were extremely pleased with the amount of interest in the Open Ideas Competition. It was a very difficult decision for the jury, but we are all very excited by the winning design ideas and how they both preserve and transform the historic asylum wall," said Dr. Paul Garfinkel, CAMH President and CEO.

The jury, made up of city officials, an architect, a local artist, neighbourhood residents, and people who have experienced the mental health and/or addiction system evaluated the entries from a number of different perspectives such as heritage preservation, community integration, interest and beauty, contribution to safe and open spaces and reducing stigma.

The best aspects of the two winning ideas, and perhaps some elements from the honourable mention and finalist entries, will be further refined by CAMH and its development team, in consultation with the City, Councillor Joe Pantalone, and with the input of the Competition winners. As the wall is historically designated, the final wall design needs to be approved by the City of Toronto Preservation Board and by City Council as part of the overall redevelopment process. The overall site redevelopment must also be approved by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care.

Details about the winning ideas can be found on the CAMH website at www.camh.net.

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health is a Pan American Health Organization and World Health Organization Collaborating Centre and a teaching hospital fully affiliated with the University of Toronto.

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For more information, please contact Anne Ptasznik, Media Relations Coordinator, and (416) 595-6015 or Councillor Joe Pantalone at (416) 392-4009.