I’m on vacation right now, but wanted to make a quick post to keep things going. Here are a few Kirkbride-related news items from the last week or so.
Some brief memories of Weston State Hospital are given by former employee Michael Mays in this story about West Viginia’s state mental health system: Three Steps Forward, 50 Years Back. According to the article, WV’s mental health care isn’t necessarily getting better in spite of improvements, and in some cases the same mistakes are being made over and over again. Similar criticisms are often made about mental health care around the rest of the country unfortunately…
The Weird New Jersey guys’ latest merchandising endeavor Weird US: The Board Game features Danvers State Hospital among other locations. I guess it’s kind of cool that DSH is iconic enough to be included in a board game, but it seems kind of cheesy and not very respectful. I have to admit I haven’t actually seen the game in real life (and probably never will;), so I can’t really comment on how DSH fits in or how it’s portrayed. I’m skeptical that this is a good thing though…
Looks like there’s not much chance of a film being shot at the Fergus Falls Kirkbride after all: City Council Delays Movie Action. As one reader comments, the delay is most likely a passive-aggressive political maneuver meant to squash filmmaker Dav Kaufman’s hopes of shooting at the RTC. The Friends of the Kirkbride weigh in with a separate opinion piece, saying the film wouldn’t be a good thing: Friends: Film Jeopardizes RTC.
While I don’t put much stock in the idea that a small-time, independent thriller would permanently damage the former state hospital’s reputation, it’s true that the movie might not add much in the way of positives and that national exposure would be limited. I think it would’ve been great however to have the Kirkbride featured in a movie, even if it only turned out to be an underground favorite. I guess that’s not a good enough reason to give Kaufman the green light, but I don’t believe the opposing argument is a good enough reason to refuse him either.
BTW: I recommend reading the comments accompanying both Fergus Falls pieces above. Some of them are better than the actual articles, and the back and forth can be pretty funny sometimes. It’s good to see that a lot of Fergus Falls residents care enough to comment.
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…)
I like all Kirkbride buildings, but definitely not equally. I have my favorites. Below is a list of the five I like most. Before we get to the list though, here’s a little disclaimer: this list is based solely on aesthetics and does not mean that these are particularly good examples of Kirkbride buildings, or that these were the best hospitals in terms of treatment, recovery rates, staff, etc. Also, I’m only counting the buildings I’ve been to. There are other Kirkbrides I would have considered, but they were demolished decades ago and I don’t want to evaluate them on photographs alone.
And now, without further ado… (more…)
Continuing with the theme of my previous post, I thought I’d put the spotlight on a very thoughtful and fair take on the matter written by a gentleman named Don Moore.
Mr Moore comes from the side taking strong offense at use of the word “lunatic”. By looking beyond the word however, he’s found a better understanding of the Jordans’ activities and sees real value in some of the efforts they’ve made (although this doesn’t mean he agrees with everything they do). (more…)
I thought the furor over the Weston name change had died down a little, but evidently not. There’s a protest demonstration planned at the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum this weekend. Adding fuel to the fire perhaps is a new t-shirt being sold by the Jordans. The shirt (pictured above) says, “I went nuts at…” on the front, and “Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum” on the back. The “I went nuts at…” part is undeniably crass. Depending on your sense of humor and feelings about proper terminology, you might chuckle or you might be incensed. But the list of reasons for admission is the really funny part and adds something to what appears to be a simple-minded joke at first.
Okay, it’s not funny as in I’m laughing myself sick, but it definitely made me smirk and think a little. Some of the reasons are so ridiculous: dissolute habits, bad company, laziness, egotism, political excitement, deranged masturbation… Who hasn’t experienced these things? (more…)
The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum is the featured location on tonight’s episode of Ghost Hunters. The show airs at 9PM on the Sci-Fi Channel. TAPS — “not your normal paranormal” investigation team — will be shown hunting hauntings in the Kirkbride. I’ve never really watched the show, but from scanning a fan forum for 30 seconds I gather TAPS is a bit more skeptical and scientific than the average paranormal investigation unit. I don’t know if that’s saying much though:) (more…)
The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum web site has a great new look. Check it out if you have some time to spare. It’s definitely worth a gander. The layout and graphics are very “sexy” and will certainly draw more people in to learn the Weston asylum story.
www.trans-alleghenylunaticasylum.com.
I like how the home page sort of splits the building in half to acknowledge the two big interests regarding the old hospital: History & Heritage versus Hauntings & Mystery. I’m not much for the latter, but if you are, check out the Overnight at the Asylum announcement on the Ghost Tours page.
Not too surprisingly there’s some noise being made over the recent rechristening of Weston State Hospital as the “Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum”. The latter is of course the institution’s original name, and is definitely more attention grabbing than the less archaic “Weston State Hospital”. No doubt the new owners changed it to help market the place as a tourist destination. (more…)
I thought this article looked funny: Owners Want Mud Bog at Weston Hospital.
To be fair, it sounds like the mud bog would be a good distance from the historic buildings, so it’s not as weird as it sounds. I just can’t get the picture of monster trucks spewing mud and crushing cars on the Kirkbride front lawn out of my head though…
Tours at Weston State Hospital are set to resume in March 2008. (more…)
