Kirkbride Buildings - Historic Insane Asylum Architecture

I was surprised to catch a cameo by the Danvers State Hospital Kirkbride in an old episode of Unsolved Mysteries the other night. The cameo occurs in episode three of the classic TV show’s fourth season, from 0:22:48 to 0:23:23. The episode originally aired on October 2, 1991. At that time the hospital was close to being completely shut down, and the Kirkbride was apparently still in relatively good shape.

Oddly, the Danvers Kirkbride was used as a stand-in for Rochester State Hospital in New York for a segment titled “Maloney’s Mickey.” DSH was not actually involved in the story in question.

I thought I knew about all the appearances of Danvers Kirkbride on film, but obviously not. I wonder how may other cameos by the building are out there.

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.

On Wednesday, May 13th, Preserve Greystone will be making their case in court for halting demolition of the Greystone Kirkbride. This may be the last chance for stopping the ongoing destruction of this historic building. If you live within driving distance and can get the time off from work/school/whatever, please attend the hearing to show support for preserving the Kirkbride. The more people attending the hearing, the better.

The hearing will be located at 56 Washington Street, Morristown, NJ 07960. Preserve Greystone will have volunteers available to direct you to the correct courtroom. Metered street parking is available. The closest parking garage is the John D. Dalton Parking Garage at the corner of Catano Avenue and Washington Street.

Supporters can gather at 2 p.m. on the The Green in Morristown to get “Preserve Greystone” buttons to wear to the hearing. More details can be found on their facebook page.

Preservationworks has issued a press release summarizing their conference held this past weekend. The conference brought together many leaders in Kirkbride building preservation efforts. It sounds like there was some good discussion (sadly, I couldn’t attend).

It’s heartening to see a summit of like-minded preservationists. Knowledge sharing like this can only help the cause.

Read the Press Release.

Abatement of the Greystone Kirkbride in New Jersey appears to be nearing completion, and actual demolition could begin as early as this month. Preserve Greystone is planning a rally at the Kirkbride on Sunday, April 12th. More information is available at the #Rally4Greystone event page on Facebook. Please attend the rally if you can. It’s important to show strong support for preserving the building. Even though the demolition process is in motion, Preserve Greystone is still fighting to halt it, and they can use all the support they can get from like-minded preservationists.

On April 3rd, the New York Times published an article on this story: Preservationists Fight to Save a Former Asylum in New Jersey. It’s fantastic such a widely-read media outlet wrote about what’s going on. I hope it makes a difference in Greystone’s fate, but also that it contributes to more consideration being given to saving other Kirkbride buildings.

Preserve Greystone has posted an appeal on Facebook for all parties interested in saving the Kirkbride. I’ve reproduced the text of that post below. Please attend the Freeholder meeting if possible. And please at the very least sign the online petition.

Two ways to voice your opinions in person or through petition to the County. Either attend this week’s Freeholder’s Meeting along with members of Preserve Greystone’s board, or sign our online petition. Please, mail and/or scan and email any physical petitions you may have in your possession that have not been sent to Preserve Greystone.

Freeholder’s Meeting Details
When: Wednesday, April 8, 2015, 7:30pm
Where: Administration & Records Building
Court Street, Morristown 07960
We will be presenting the physical petition and all the online signatures and stories from the online petition at this meeting.

Preserve Greystone is holding a town hall meeting on Wednesday, April 1 at 7:00PM. The meeting will be held at Morristown Town Hall, Senior Center, 3rd Floor in Morristown, New Jersey. Please attend if possible to show support for saving the Greystone Park Kirkbride building.

Topics to be discussed include details on the group’s fundraising campaign and their need for more volunteers to help in their effort to preserve the Kirkbride. More details are available on the Preserve Greystone Town Hall Meeting flyer.

If you can’t attend, please visit the Preserve Greystone support web page for other ways you can be a part of the mission to save this unique, irreplaceable part of American history.

I knew something like this was coming, but that doesn’t make me any less sad and disappointed. Parts of the historic Bryce Hospital Kirkbride building are now being demolished. You can read all about it on TuscaloosaNews.com: Part of Former Bryce Hospital Being Demolished

There’s still a long way to go to cover the funding gap for Fergus Falls, and not much time to do so either — only a day or so left. I’m starting to sweat like Jerry Lewis at the end of a telethon…

If you’ve ever considered donating but put it off for later, please do it now.

If you can only afford to give $5 or $10, please do. Every little bit helps.

I apologize for the negativity, but I feel compelled to admit I’m depressed by the lack of response to this fundraiser. In spite of what seems to have been a pretty active campaign to get the word out, not much money has been donated. There’s been talk of the deadline being extended, but I don’t know how likely that is if there’s not a substantial amount donated by the end of the year. I don’t know what the current total is unfortunately, but judging by the GoFundMe page, it’s not very significant.

So please, donate now. Please share the GoFundMe link and ask others to donate now. Otherwise, get ready to say goodbye to yet another Kirkbride.

To those who have already donated, either online or by sending a check directly, and to those who have encouraged others to donate, to Historic Kirkbride LLC, and to Gene and Maxine and all the other Friends of the Kirkbride who have worked hard to get things to this point: THANK YOU! I sincerely wish there were more people like you.

I’m a little behind on this, sorry, but there’s a new book out about Northampton State Hospital. Co-authored by Anna Schuleit and J. Michael Moore, Northampton State Hospital is part of Arcadia Publishing’s popular Images of America series and contains 128 pages full of historic images of the hospital—including many of its beautiful Kirkbride building. You can read a bit about the book’s backstory in this article: Northampton State Hospital’s History Shared in Images.

The Friends of the Kirkbride are trying to raise $700,000 to cover a funding for redevelopment of the Fergus Falls Kirkbride. Read more about the story here: Fergus Falls Citizens Group to Raise $700K to Save Kirkbride.

Please consider making a donation. Any amount you can afford will help. The full $700K must be raised by December 31st. There are two ways to donate…

Send a Check

Otter Tail County Historical Society
1110 W. Lincoln Ave.
Fergus Falls, MN 56537

Make checks payable to: Otter Tail County Historical Society
Memo: Kirkbride

Donate Online

Visit this GoFundMe page.