For positive solutions, Mills looked to the independent-minded islanders of St Kilda, and the vagrancy colonies of the Netherlands, concluding that what was required was an “English experiment” in co-operative land settlement.
Instead, Liberty Village became home to several institutions, including the Toronto Central Prison, opened in 1873, and the Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women (on the site of today’s Lamport Stadium), opened in 1878 for women convicted of "vagrancy", "incorrigibility", or "sexual precociousness." Provincial Secretary William John Hanna forced the closure of Central Prison in 1915, and all its buildings were demolished except for the paint shop and chapel.