Kirkbride Buildings - Historic Insane Asylum Architecture

According to the Poughkeepsie Journal, redevelopment plans for the former Hudson River State Hospital campus are moving forward: 750 Housing Units Are Planned. In addition to the 750 housing units, developers Hudson Heritage and the Community Preservation Corporation want to create 350,000 square feet of commercial space, most of which would be for retail purposes.

While the article doesn’t explain how the Kirkbride building fits into this plan, a CPC representative is quoted as stating almost definitively that the south wing (damaged by fire last year) will be torn down. They’re planning to replace it with something “similar to the existing historic structure.” I’ve always thought that these particular developers really value this Kirkbride and respect its character. So I’m hopeful they’ll work some magic here. I can’t help but worry though that a replacement wing just won’t be the same.

I guess it would be better than nothing at all. It’s such a shame that fire had to happen.

I got an email last week informing me that my list of Kirkbrides was incomplete because the asylum in Osawatomie, Kansas wasn’t included. While I’m still not 100% sure there was a Kirkbride there, I trust this person’s opinion and went looking (again) for whatever evidence I could find.

During my search I did find something promising related to the Osawatomie asylum, but the thing I found really exciting was something else entirely that I stumbled upon by happy accident. I’m sure only the most geeky of asylum architecture enthusiasts will find this interesting, so if you’re not one of those, please disregard this post. If you are an asylum architecture nerd, then read on… (more…)

Source: Google Maps

I’ve been waiting for more Kirkbrides to show up in Google Maps‘ Street View feature since the Worcester Kirkbride appeared a few months ago. While putting together a separate post involving Buffalo State Hospital, I happily discovered that the Buffalo Kirkbride is now featured. If you’ve never been, take a look around.

There’s a story on TuscaloosaNews.com about efforts to get Bryce Hospital designated a national historic landmark: Panel Urges Landmark Protection for Bryce. The application for landmark status has to be made within a month, but much like that fickle girlfriend or boyfriend we’ve all had at one time in our lives, the University of Alabama wants to keep its options open. So far it has opposed the landmark application. The school plans to purchase the Bryce Hospital property when the hospital moves in a year or so, and seems to believe that landmark status will somehow “hurt the university if it owned the building.” (more…)

Finally: the new Greystone Park facility has truly opened. Patients moved to their new residence yesterday, marking a major event in the hospital’s long history. According to all reports I’ve read, the new building is a much nicer place and I’m sure the patients and staff will be much happier there. (more…)

The Fergus Falls State Hospital Kirkbride building may become the setting for a movie. According to the Fergus Falls Daily Journal, Twin Cities filmmaker Dav Kaufman is working on a new film and has the RTC specifically in mind as its location: Filmmaker Has RTC in Sight.

Session 9 did a lot to introduce Danvers State Hospital to the world. While it sounds like this movie will be a low budget affair, there’s a chance it’ll become something of a cult favorite like Session 9, and could bring the RTC some broader, national exposure if it gets made. Hopefully it will and the quality of the film will be relatively high with the building used to good effect.

As explained a while back in this post, it’s my goal to post pages with pictures and history of each demolished Kirkbride building that I never got a chance to visit. I’ve recently posted a few more, including Spring Grove State Hospital (Maryland), Fulton State Hospital (Missouri), Jacksonville State Hospital (Illinois), Kalamazoo State Hospital (Michigan), Winnebago State Hospital (you guessed it: Wisconsin), and Pontiac State Hospital (Michigan).

Some of the less boring facts gleaned during my research involve the asylums in Jacksonville and Fulton. At Jacksonville, in 1860 a lady named Elizabeth Packard was involuntarily committed for three years. Her husband sent her to the asylum after she began disagreeing with his religious beliefs. On her release, she separated from her husband, formed the Anti-Insane Asylum Society, and successfully petitioned the Illinois legislature to grant wives the right to a public hearing if their husbands tried to have them committed. She also wrote a few books about her asylum experience (one of which can be read online here). (more…)

In yet another example of people distancing themselves from asylum history, the new park in Morris County (made up of 300 acres from the former grounds of Greystone Park State Hospital) will be named Central Park. This fresh and exciting new name was deliberately chosen to avoid stigma related to the hospital’s past. As NewJersey.com reports:

By a 6-1 tally, the freeholders broke from the tract’s history and voted to name the new venue Central Park of Morris County. (more…)

LiveJournal user laurapalmer813 posted some photos of the Kirkbride building in Dayton, Ohio today. (This is the Kirkbride that’s been turned into a retirement home.) If you’re interested, check out the photos. The building looks pretty good, maybe a little boring since it’s lost some ornamentation, but still pretty good. Looks like it’ll be around for a good long while.

Asylum enthusiast Taylor/WSH posted about this on the forum: Joe Jordan, current owner of the Weston State Hospital Kirkbride has received funds from the state to repair the building’s clocktower. West Virginia’s Historic Preservation Office has granted $104,000 for repairs. Mr Jordan will match the grant with another $104,000 plus work from staff and volunteers. Work is expected to begin around the first of September. (more…)