Kirkbride Buildings - Historic Insane Asylum Architecture

I swung by Worcester State Hospital this weekend as I was in the area and I had read the clock tower replica had finally been completed. You can read more about that here: Rebuilt clock tower welcomed on hospital campus in Worcester. Note that there’ll be a ribbon cutting ceremony at 10AM on Thursday, December 10, 2015.

There’s still a chainlink fence around the tower right now so you can’t get very close. I took a few pictures from a distance with my phone. You can’t make it out in the pictures unfortunately, but it looks like there’s a spiral staircase in the center of the structure. There are metal gates protecting the entrances at the base of the tower though. I’m guessing those will remain closed and locked. It’d be nice if the public could climb to the top at will, but that’s probably asking too much, especially as the tower is on the grounds of a psychiatric hospital.

Overall I think it looks good. It’s obviously not exactly like the old tower, and it’s not an adequate replacement for the Kirkbride, or even the just admin. It’s a fairly accurate replica of the tower though and (a little bit) better than nothing. Even though it’s somewhat disappointing and odd, I’ll probably visit it from time to time for a reminder of what used to be.

An article on the Boston Globe website includes an artist’s rendering of the Worcester State Hospital clock tower replica: Clock Tower: Time Isn’t Up in Worcester. Even though I’m very disappointed in the clock tower replica compromise and don’t think it could ever be a fitting stand-in for the entire building, I have to say it doesn’t look quite as silly as I had feared. What do you think?

Looks like Massachusetts is planning to proceed with demolition of the entire Worcester State Hospital admin (including the clock tower), and construction of a replica clock tower using material from the original building. See this official report dated Friday, January 20, 2012. It’s a lengthy, wordy document which is painful to read in some respects, but the overall gist is their intent is to completely raze the admin and build a clock tower replica. They acknowledge strong community support for preservation, but say the cost is just too high.

While destruction of the clocktower is tragic and more should have been done to save it, there’s some small comfort in the fact that part of the reason this is happening is because of the new hospital building being built nearby. The advancement of care for the mentally ill should always trump preservation and memorialization, no matter how important the latter two are. While I don’t think that fully excuses the state from responsibility for this tragedy, it’s at least something of a silver lining.

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…)

The abandoned buildings at Worcester State Hospital could start coming down as soon as this week according to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Reporter Lee Hammel writes about the possible scaling back of the proposed new hospital facility, and mentions a few facts about demolition and the unclear fate of the Clocktower. (more…)

Old time Kirkbride Buildings forum member WSH posted a few scans today of some annual reports from the “Worcester Lunatic Hospital“. Among other things, the superintendent writes about the installation of the clock in the admin tower. Also included are old photos of one of the rotundas, Hooper Hall. They’re definitely worth checking out.