Kirkbride Buildings - Historic Insane Asylum Architecture

Last week someone on the forum posted a link to a Time Magazine Story which mentioned Traverse City State Hospital. It gave me the idea to check for more stories concerning state hospitals from Time’s extensive 86 year archive. While there weren’t any amazing finds, there were a few interesting items…

Medicine in a Mad House (1934) - Tells the story of how a patient filled Danvers State Hospital’s kitchen sugar cans with cockroach poison, killing another patient and making 13 others seriously ill.

Government Inspiration (1936) - This story about government sponsored art during the New Deal starts off with a description of a mural painted at Elgin State Hospital. I just thought it was interesting that the artists were instructed to “use only the softest shades of primary colors, to ‘avoid all exciting combinations.’”

Unhappy Anniversary (1952) - The sad story of Miss X, Topeka State Hospital’s oldest resident in 1952. She had been admitted to the hospital in 1882.

Reinforcement Therapy: Short Cut to Sanity? (1969) - Experiments in something called “Reinforcement Therapy” at Anna State Hospital in Illinois.

The transformation of  Traverse City State Hospital into The Village at Grand Traverse Commons is probably a familiar story to most of you reading this blog. Reuse of the buildings there is moving steadily forward and the project has largely been a success. It continues to amaze me that more cities haven’t yet followed this example with their own abandoned Kirkbrides. NPR recently produced a piece on the project describing how it could be a model for developing sustainable neighborhoods in Michigan—a state that’s been hit especially hard by the economic downturn. Listen here:

And lest we forget the past while we’re contemplating the future, I’d just like to remind you that a few former TCSH patients continue to share their memories of the hospital on the forum. You can read their thread here: Forgotten Children of Hall 18, Hall 7.

Aside from a video with some nice photos and footage of the Buffalo Kirkbride, there’s not much new in this article about the rehabilitation project there: Plans for the Richardson. It’s good to hear things are progressing, but I just mainly wanted to point out the video (it appears directly after the text of the article).

One of Iowa’s four state psychiatric hospitals will be shut down according to an article in the Sioux City Journal: State May Close Mental Health Facility. This means yet another Kirkbride may be abandoned in the not too distant future, unless the facility at Mount Pleasant is the one that gets closed. The Kirkbride there, of course, being long gone. I really hope Cherokee, Clarinda and Independence get to hang on. It would be a shame to see any of them abandoned after all these years.

According to the Buffalo News, renovation work on the central admin and adjacent wards of the Buffalo Kirkbride is about to get serious. If all goes well, work to preserve the stone sections of the building for future use will be in full swing this summer, and should be completed in about 15 months. The Richardson Center Corporation also plans on stabilizing the brick wards during this time, but they expect those sections may stay vacant for quite a while.

There will be a final public meeting about the project at 6PM on Tuesday, July 14 in Buffalo State College’s Rockwell Hall.

Source: Work to Start on Richardson Olmsted’s Landmark Tower

A fire started in the Fergus Falls Kirkbride earlier today (Tuesday, June 16). You can see some pictures of it here: Fire at the Regional Treatment Center. I don’t know the details, but will post more information when I find out more about it.

Update - Here’s some good video footage of the fire by Lethal over at the Fergus Falls Forum. Looks like the fire was caused by a lightning strike. It’s hard to tell, but the damage doesn’t look too intense. It’s painful to watch how long it takes for the ladder to extend, but I’m sure they’re moving as fast as they can. (more…)

A national memorial for the mentally ill is being planned by Mental Health America and will be placed on the grounds of Saint Elizabeths hospital. The memorial is meant to specifically honor the thousands of people who have died while being treated at psychiatric hospitals around the nation and whom are often buried in anonymous graves such as the one pictured above. According to a Mental Health America press release: (more…)

Here’s some really fascinating footage of the Oregon State Hospital J-Building being torn down. I don’t advocate smoking pot, but I think sparking up a J may be the only way you’re going to get through all 38 minutes and 57 seconds of this video. So why am I including it here? I feel bad about not posting more often and this seems like a fast and easy way to make it look like I’m still providing value for your money. Plus it gives me a chance to engage in some clever word play (J-Building… sparking up a J… get it?) (more…)

This morning, a reader sent me the URL to this article. The important part of which being the second to last sentence reading:

“[T]he company also expects within the next 30 days to start work tearing down 24 empty buildings on the grounds of the Taunton State Hospital.”

So demolition of the Taunton Kirkbride is a sure thing and it looks like it’ll happen this summer. There’s not much to say but too bad. It will be missed.

Maine’s Health and Human Services Committee co-chair, Senator Joseph Brannigan, has suggested that the Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center in Bangor be closed. His reasoning is that doing so will save the state from having to make more painful cuts elsewhere.

Closing Dorothea Dix would leave the state with one public psych hospital (in Augusta). However, since there’s little to no support for the idea from Maine’s governor, and strong opposition from the Maine State Employees union, it seems unlikely that the hospital will be closed any time soon. It’s worth noting though that it’s being discussed.

You can find more details about this development here: Closure of Bangor Psychiatric Center Proposed to Save Money. You can also listen to Maine Public Broadcasting’s piece about it here: Legislators Eyeing Possible Closure Of Psychiatric Hospital To Save Money.