F. J. Davey home is all growed-up

One hundred and three years after it was founded as an alternative to district jail for those with no means to support themselves, the F.J. Davey Home is poised to cut its final ties to the City of Sault Ste. Marie.

On Monday, City Council is expected to dissolve its current agreement with the 374-bed long-term care nursing home.

The change means the city will no longer be appointing members to the home's governing board, which will be freed to recruit its own board members.

The Davey Home was founded in 1914 as the local House of Refuge.

It's named after Frank J. Davey, a Ward 3 councillor and president of the local Conservative Association.

Davey became chairman of the House of Refuge's board of management in 1944 and persuaded the provincial government to introduce legislation requiring Ontario to share equally on capital building costs at homes for the aged.

The groundbreaking legislation also required that inhabitants of houses of refuge no longer be referred to as “inmates."

Instead, they would now be called "residents."

In 1955, the Sault House of Refuge was renamed the F.J. Davey Home for the Aged (Algoma).  

The home was operating as a municipal long-term care home in 2001 when City Council approved a development plan that led to the current 374-bed home opening in 2004.

The city contributed $9.8 million to build the new facility.

The long-term debt incurred by the city to make the donation was retired in 2014.

City staff reviewed the Davey Home's request to dissolve its relationship with the city, and found no financial or legal impediments.

The Davey Home has recently changed its corporate bylaws to prepare for the change.

Monday's City Council meeting will be livestreamed on SooToday starting at 4:30 p.m.