February 10th, 2009
Preserving Columbia
I’m a little late on this, but there was an article last week about preservationists calling for the protection of historical structures on the campus of the former Columbia State Hospital campus (which the state is now offering for sale). The historical structures include, of course, the Kirkbride building. You can read the story here: Push on to Protect State Hospital Structures.
I’m not too familiar with the Columbia Kirkbride and have never seen it in person. From pictures I’ve seen though it looks like it’s in fair condition, and from this article I get the sense it has a decent chance of survival. If anyone reading this knows better, please comment. Thanks.
This is the South Carolina State Hospital at Columbia; pictured is the Babcock Building (1882). The older Mills Building (1826) is already a National Historic Site.
Thanks for the info, Rick. Just to be clear and hopefully avoid any confusion, the Babcock Building (pictured) is a Kirkbride building.
The shock “treatments” I recieved at Columbia caused me permanent memory loss, (no memory of all my 4 years of college for starters) even as the flawed consent form my doc gave me stated I may only suffer “temporary memory loss.” The Saturday night bean suppers were very good, however.