Kirkbride Buildings - Historic Insane Asylum Architecture

The Richardson Center Corporation is requesting donations to help to fund them preserve and reuse the former Buffalo State Hospital Kirkbride building. If you believe in their mission, please send them a check for what you can afford. Donations of $50 or more entitle you to a special gift. $50 will get you one ticket to an open house event scheduled for January 26, 2012. $100 gets you a ticket to the open house, plus a photograph of the Buffalo admin by photographer Patricia Bazelon. $500 will get you the best gift of all: a 90-minute private guided tour of the complex for you and 20 friends.

You can view the email they sent out today here: Support the Richardson Olmsted Complex. Please fill out the form and send in a check to support the preservation of this amazing historic landmark.

Public tours of the Buffalo Kirkbride building have been scheduled for this fall! The one hour guided tours will take place on Saturday, October 15th; Sunday, October 16th; and Sunday, October 23rd. Email info@richardson-olmsted.com to make reservations and for payment and parking instructions.

I was lucky enough to take a semi-public tour of the Buffalo Kirkbride back in July. We were shown the basement and first floor of the admin, one floor each of two wing sections, plus a bit of the attic. I’m not sure, but from the description on the Richardson Center Corporation’s Facebook page, I gather that these upcoming tours will more or less cover the same area.

The interior is pretty much as impressive as you’d guess by looking at the exterior. I’m sure, like me, you’ve seen pictures of the inside before, but actually being in that space is something pictures can’t really prepare you for.  Most everything is on a massive scale and exudes a sort of robust energy, except for the main staircase in the admin curiously. It’s a really nice staircase, but it’s surprisingly modest compared to everything else. It was interesting too to see some of the interior preservation work the Richardson Center Corporation has been doing. It looked really good and in keeping with the building’s spirit. They still have a lot to do though.

Since taking the tour is a way to contribute to their preservation work, I really recommend it to any Kirkbride enthusiast who can make it to Buffalo in October. I’ll write a bit more about my own experience touring the Kirkbride on a later date, after I finally sit down and process all the pictures I took.

Queenseyes at Buffalo Rising posted about his authorized look inside the Buffalo State Hospital Kirkbride after the recent fire. From his write-up, it appears the damage was very limited and the Richardson-Olmsted Corporation is getting serious about keeping trespassers out of the building. Read the story and view photos here: Richardson Triage Slide Show.

Update: The Richardson-Olmsted Corporation just sent out this email message…

(more…)

I’m a bit late writing about this here, but I think it’s important enough to make a post regardless. There was a fire on the second floor of the admin in the Buffalo State Hospital Kirkbride building early this past Saturday morning. The two-alarm blaze caused $200,000 worth of damage, but apparently there was no major structural damage and renovation efforts will not be affected too much by it.

The fire is considered suspicious and arson has not been ruled out. Firefighters were called to the building at 3:15 in the morning. Investigators have determined that the starting point was most likely a pile of papers on the floor, and also found a point of entry to the building which may have been used by someone who started the fire.

The article with the most information on this story that I’ve found so far can be found on The Buffalo News web site: $200,000 Fire Damages Richardson Complex.

Is November really over? I barely noticed it go by I’ve been so busy. But it’s my least favorite month and I’m jonesing for it to be 2010 anyway, so who cares? Oh yeah: the Richardson Center snowglobes are now available for purchase. You can currently see what they look like on the Avalon Scarves home page, and buy them online from their snowglobes page. I have to say, I like my virtual BSH snowglobe better, but I suppose I’m biased.

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).

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 status update on the former Buffalo State Hospital Kirkbride appeared on Buffalo Rising yesterday: Richardson Complex Update. According to BR, some stabilization work has been completed, more is in the works, and a laser scan of the building is ongoing. There will also be a public meeting on Tuesday, January 27 in Rockwell Hall, Buffalo State College where The Richardson Center Corporation will give an overview of the work completed so far. It’s great to hear that preservation of this architectural treasure is moving forward.

A couple weeks ago I found a blog post at Forgotten Buffalo describing how parts of the classic baseball film The Natural were filmed at various locations in Buffalo, New York: Tour of “The Natural” Sites. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that some scenes were filmed inside the abandoned Buffalo State Hospital Kirkbride building. This past weekend I finally got to watch the movie and see for myself.

About an hour and half into the movie, Robert Redford’s character Roy Hobbs is sent to a hospital. The Kirkbride plays the part of the hospital (not a psychiatric facility) and does a pretty good job I might add. There’s probably around twenty minutes worth of scenes inside the building. There are no views of the building’s exterior. Unfortunately, a lot of the shots inside Redford’s room (actually a medium-to-large dormitory style space he shares with other patients) are pretty “tight” and you don’t get to see much. But there are a few shots of a ward hallway which give you a sense of what a Buffalo ward looked like in the 1930s—even though in real life there probably would’ve been beds in the hall and other signs of overcrowding by that time. (more…)

In case you read this post and were wondering how the voting went, the Richardson-Olmsted Complex is the winning architectural landmark! With 34% of the vote, the old asylum building will be featured in this year’s snow globe. Unfortunately, it sounds like the globe won’t be available for the holidays. Read more on Buffalo Rising. I thought it was interesting that people tried to “stuff the ballot box” as they put it. Who’d have thought people were so passionate about a snow globe? My only problem with this whole thing is that I can’t find any information on how to actually buy a globe. I guess maybe you have to go to The Floristry in Buffalo to get one?