Kirkbride Buildings - Historic Insane Asylum Architecture

A new developer is interested in saving the Kirkbride building in Fergus Falls: Global Athlete Village. GAV, a “Minnesota-based non-profit group dedicated to encouraging humanitarian and community service efforts by young athletes”, has expressed interest in using the property as a training center for mobilizing student athletes on humanitarian projects. You can read all about it in this Fergus Falls Journal article: RTC Finds a New Potential Developer. GAV’s vision seems to involve being a sort of “keystone developer” that would be complimented by several smaller, like-minded humanitarian groups all sharing the Kirkbride.

While I wish them all the luck in the world and think it would be fantastic for the Kirkbride to continue on as a home to humanitarian service, I have to admit I’m a bit skeptical of GAV’s plan. They’re a relatively young organization and will need to come up with some pretty significant funding to do what they want to do. I really hope this isn’t another idealistic dream that never materializes, like the Chinese immersion school. Hopefully they’ll prove my skepticism wrong.

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Tours of the former Fergus Falls State Hospital are set to resume according to a post on the Friends of the Kirkbride Facebook page (check out the group’s photos for some great pictures, including historical images from the hospital). For more information or to reserve a spot on a tour, call Maxine at (+1) 218-736-5328.

I’ve been bad about keeping up with the blog and site in general lately, but even though this is oldish news, it’s worth noting that even though the Kirkbride building at Fergus is still standing, it’s in danger of being demolished. An article in the Fergus Falls Journal last month provides some details: New RTC Plan Could Demolish Part of Kirkbride.

I’ve seen a fair amount of artwork created by state hospital patients over the years, but nothing quite like the collection of folk art attributed to the anonymous Electric Pencil. In the early years of the 20th century, the Electric Pencil was at the Nevada State Hospital where he (or she) created hundreds of pictures. For his canvas, the artist utilized unused pieces of outdated hospital ledger paper. With pencil and crayon, he would cover both sides of each sheet with people, buildings, automobiles, trains, boats, animals and landscapes. The artwork is “primitive” but remarkable for its detail, unique subtleties (note for example the people’s eyes in the portraits) and sheer volume.

Although the entire collection of 283 drawings was carefully collected and sewn into a leather album at some point, it was almost lost forever. A fourteen year old boy happened to find the album in a trash heap and rescued it from oblivion in 1970. A new book reproducing the entire collection is now available from this website: Electric Pencil Drawings.

The only disappointing thing about the collection is that it doesn’t appear to contain any renderings of the Nevada Kirkbride building. There are however several images which leave little doubt that these drawings were made at the hospital. It’s really too bad that the artist didn’t attempt to reproduce the Kirkbride on paper. I’m sure he would have created a pretty compelling likeness of the structure.

The gentleman who runs the website where I learned about all this has informed me that he may have just recently gotten in touch with one of the Electric Pencil’s relatives. I hope so. It would be good to be able to put a name and history to this body of work. Watch the website for updates on this story.

Maine’s WCSH reports that the National Alliance On Mental Illness is recommending that the Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center in Bangor be closed. Read the article here:  Advocate for Mentally Ill Recommends Closing Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center. I don’t think this means that the hospital is in any imminent danger of closing, but thought it worth noting — if only to see the continuing debate about hospital versus community care in action.

Just a few days ago the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s magazine Preservation published an article focused on Broughton State Hospital: Mind Over Matter: How Historic Asylums Are Faring. North Carolina is planning to build a new $138 million building for the hospital. A few of the older buildings will be demolished, while the Kirkbride there — also known as the Avery Building — will be left empty. Preservationists are worried that neglect of the structure will lead to its ultimate demise. I’d say their fears are well founded given the history of abandoned Kirkbrides.

Note that clicking on the photos accompanying the article takes you to larger versions. Although most of the photos aren’t of the Kirkbride, they’re still worth a peek. I particularly like the old greenhouse.

Just thought it was worth noting that the former Fergus Falls State Hospital campus is being offered for sale on Craigslist: $1 Historic Fergus Falls State Hospital. Alhough I have a hard time believing its fair market value (as the ad states), $1 is quite a bargain. It’s too bad “a plan for development and proof of private development capital is also required.”

Lightning is the suspected source of a fire causing “substantial damage” to the Saint Elizabeths Kirkbride building in Washington DC. You can read about it here: Fire Breaks Out at St. E’s. Another source confirms it: Old SE D.C. Hospital Complex Catches Fire.

I don’t know much about this yet, but I’ll post more information as I find it. If anyone has anything to share about this please comment. Even if a lot of damage was done, I think there’s a good chance the government will restore the building since it’s going to be part of the new DHS headquarters. Let’s hope so anyway.

Update: There are photos and some video about this available here: Firefighters Respond to Two Alarm Fire at Saint Elizabeths Hospital. The photos show a pretty limited fire on the roof of the admin tower. Judging from those I’d say the fire wasn’t too bad and was probably contained and controlled by the firefighters before too much damage could be done. We’ll have to wait till more information comes in to be sure.

Here’s a message from the General Services Administration: “As has been widely reported, the cause of the fire is thought to be lightning. The fire was contained to the roof and level 5 directly below the roof which was approximately 24 feet by 25 feet, with minimal subsequent water damage. Emergency response was swift and effective. The building has been assessed for emergency stabilization and repairs, and weatherization measures have begun. This incident will not impact the ongoing design development for the rehabilitation and reuse of the Center Building.”

As has long been suspected, the Chinese language immersion school that was supposed to take over the Fergus Falls Kirkbride is just not going to happen. Redevelopment of other buildings on the property is moving forward, but there are no plans in the works for the Kirkbride. Demolition is the only option on the table. Although it’s not a done deal just yet, things are not looking good for the preservation of Minnesota’s last intact Kirkbride building. You can read a little more about this here: RTC Development to Move Forward; Chinese School Nixed.

There’s some awful footage of the former Topeka State Hospital admin being destroyed here: Wrecking Ball Meets Topeka State Hospital. The video was produced by WIBW of Topeka, Kansas. According to the reporter, the wrecking ball will be swinging for a few more days, and a few months later in October, there’ll be no sign that the building ever existed.

The Greystone Park Kirkbride building‘s future just got a little brighter. A special task force charged with developing a preservation plan for the building was just established by a bill that passed New Jersey’s state senate by a vote of 38 to 0 yesterday! The bill was sponsored by New Jersey state senator Bill Codey. The eleven member task force will be comprised of state employees and politicians, plus five members of the general public including “a former patient or family member of a former patient at the original Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital.” The task force will submit their plan within six months after their first meeting. Read more: Codey Measure to Preserve Greystone Park Approved.

This doesn’t mean preservation is guaranteed for the building, but it makes it much more likely. I’m especially pleased to see the unanimous vote which indicates there’s a lot of support for saving this historic structure. Hopefully within a year (or even less) the task force will have created a solid preservation plan and Greystone’s outlook will look even better.