Kirkbride Buildings - Historic Insane Asylums Forum

There's another article by Mark Roessler in the The Valley Advocate today. This one compares a McMenamins location in Oregon with the never to be fulfilled possibilities of what could have been done with Old Main: Miracle Manor

I don't know how familiar you all are with McMenamins, but they're a Portland, Oregon based company that often takes old, vacant properties and renovates them into brew pubs, hotels and restaurants (or some combination of the three). A few years back, I actually had the pleasure of visiting the one Roessler describes in his article. I also visited another one located in an old school. Both were pretty amazing. McMenamins really do a great job of creating a place that has vitality while still being sensitive and respectful of the historical character of the location and buildings. If you're ever in Oregon, seek out their establishments. You won't be disappointed.

It's too bad Northampton or some group like McMenamins couldn't have done something similar with Old Main, and/or Danvers for that matter.

This is what bugs me so much. There are lots of examples of derelict old building being very sucessfully rehabed. The first one I remember is the old power plant (for streetcars) in the Balitmore Inner Harbor. The whole Northampton deal makes me even more sick than the Danvers one. At least at DSH they had a plan they stuck to that involved saving something. NSH is just a disaster.