THE ORIGINAL LAUNDRY BUILDING / ISOLATION BUILDING

An early addition to the hospital buildings resulted from the oversight in providing laundry facilities, as noted in a letter from J.J. Robson to J.C. Abbot in October 1891. Given Snell's meticulous planning skills, it is possible that the laundry facilities were eliminated unknowingly in the massive revisions made to his drawings for budgetary reasons. Regardless, it is worthy of note that construction of the Royal Victoria began without any provisions being made for laundry service. An equal degree of uncertainty surrounds the construction process of the laundry pavilion, though it is known that its total cost was $8056, and that by 1894 it was handling 1000 pounds of laundry per day. Its design often credited to James R. Rhind, the Laundry Building stood alone on the north of the site, its graceful style giving little indication of its everyday purpose. Given the park setting of the Royal Victoria, its ornamental style gave the scene a picturesque feeling. The southern facade, which faced the rest of the buildings, was dominated by a circular entryway in which the main door was flanked by two doric columns. Situated over one hundred feet above the original hospital buildings, the Laundry Building was isolated from the functions it serviced. This was a continual problem. The difference in elevation between the buildings made its operation particularly treacherous in the winter months. A wide gully also ran from east to west, necessitating the construction of a bridge to the rear of the administration building in later years . It is difficult to imagine how this obstacle was traversed before its construction.