Kirkbride Buildings - Historic Insane Asylum Architecture

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.

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…)

Just a reminder to those of you in the Buffalo, NY area: there’ll be a public meeting about the Richardson Complex this Wednesday, April 16th. The meeting starts at 6PM and will take place at the Buffalo and Eerie County Historical Society, 25 Nottingham Court, in Buffalo. Findings, recommendations, updates and plans on stabilization and redevelopment will be presented.

If anyone reading this attends, please let me know of any surprising or especially good/bad news. Thanks. I’m hoping there’ll be some fantastic revelation about preservation and reuse of this historic building—it’s definitely one of my favorites. I won’t be surprised if it’s just a rehashing of things we’ve heard before though. Things usually turn out to be a lot less exciting than my hopes… *sigh*

A piece of the original Oregon State Hospital building that’ll be spared the wrecking ball is being called the “Kirkbride U”. It’s kind of a weird term, but sort of makes sense considering the building itself is a little unusual because of it’s “J” shape. Read about it here: Plan Spares Tower on Old Hospital Site.

I’m still not sure I’d classify OSH as a Kirkbride building considering it’s oddball floorplan, but it could be one if you use a loose definition of the term. It was built in the right time period and probably followed most of the other structural ideas. It even looks like a Kirkbride minus the segmented wings. And if calling it a Kirkbride helped preserve the place, who really cares? It’s unquestionably historic and should be saved. (I know the state is destroying a lot of it, but they’re saving the most interesting part architecturally speaking.) (more…)

Unfortunately, tours of the Fergus Falls Kirkbride have been discontinued. Any tours that may still be happening in 2013 are booked up and the Friends of the Kirkbride are no longer taking reservations. The post below from 2008 will remain here for archival purposes.

The Friends of the Kirkbride in Minnesota are extending an invitation to everyone to tour the former Fergus Falls RTC. You can read more about it here: Kirkbride is a Treasure of Architecture.

Speaking of Fergus Falls, check out these aerial photos somebody posted on MySpace:

Aerial Pic One
Aerial Pic Two

Bryce Hospital has been in the news a bit this March. As mentioned in a previous post, the Bryce campus is likely to be sold to the University of Alabama. If the sale comes to pass, the hospital will move to another location, and the Kirkbride building will become the school’s property. One reader pointed out to me that the university president, Robert Witt, says the historic building will be left standing.

“UA does not have a plan for developing the Bryce property if it were to become part of the university, but Witt said any buildings on the National Historical Registry would be preserved.” (Tuscaloosa News, UA Hires Consultant to Work on Bryce Project) (more…)

Here’s a little update on the Fergus Falls Kirkbride building. Fergus Falls city politicians are asking the state government to exempt the former RTC campus from state property taxes. According to an article in the Fergus Falls Daily Journal (“RTC on Capitol Agenda“), the Fergus Falls mayor and a city council member were scheduled to present the request to the state this morning. It seems like only a small, sort of auxillary step towards preservation, but every little bit helps.

I haven’t heard anything lately about the proposed Chinese language and business studies college at Fergus Falls. I don’t know if that’s still a possibility for reuse of the Kirkbride or not. If anybody in the Fergus Falls area knows, please comment or send me an email. Thanks.

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…)

A New Jersey state commission has approved the auction of surplus land and buildings located on what will soon be the former Greystone Park Psychiatric Center. That includes the Kirkbride. As it stands now, the building will be sold to the highest bidder. The auction could take place as soon as this spring according to an article in The Star-Ledger. (more…)

I’ve been trying to add to the list of Kirkbride buildings and remembered a couple asylums mentioned in America’s Care of the Mentally Ill. In the book, there’s a nice bird’s eye view of an asylum called Saint Vincent’s in Saint Louis, Missouri. After a little searching I was able to find the address and confirm that it was a Kirkbride. In the aerial photo above, you can see the building still stands. It’s been converted to a residential complex called Castle Park Apartments and will probably be around for a good long time. That was a nice surprise. It’s hard to believe there aren’t any other photos of this castle-like Kirkbride online. It’s pretty impressive, if a little over the top in style. (more…)