Kirkbride Buildings - Historic Insane Asylum Architecture

South Carolina’s state Budget and Control Board has approved the sale of the former Columbia State Hospital to developer Bob Hughes. You can read about it here: Board OKs Dept. of Mental Health’s Sale of Bull Street Property.

Redevelopment will take several years. There’s not much information on exactly what will be done with the property, and more importantly whether the historic buildings will be saved. The statement that the developer wants to create a “world-class residential and commercial neighborhood that respects the property’s special place in the city’s history” sounds promising, but is a little too vague to make me feel like the Kirkbride is safe from the wrecking ball.

This profile of Bob Hughes makes preservation sound like a possibility, but it certainly doesn’t say it’s a given: Bull Street Developer Led Greenville Revival.

Hidden Columbia, a local news segment on ABC’s Columbia, SC affiliate, recently put together a report on the history of South Carolina State Hospital. It’s a reasonably in-depth look at the hospital’s story with a few surprising details among the typical, to-be-expected facts. You can view all five currently released parts online by following the links below. I’m not sure if there are more parts coming in the future, but I’ll add the links here if they do.

Hidden Columbia
Unfortunately, these videos are no longer available online.

1. The State Carolina State Hospital Part 1
2. The State Carolina State Hospital Part 2
3. The State Carolina State Hospital Part 3
4. The State Carolina State Hospital Part 4
5. The State Carolina State Hospital Part 5

Watching these, I’m especially struck by how much the history of these hospitals all followed the same trajectory: a founding with much fanfare and optimism, early success giving way to hard times and overcrowding, then reform and a long slow decline terminated by closure or radical down-sizing.

On Wednesday, September 16th at 10AM there will be a public hearing concerning the historic buildings at the state hospital in Columbia, South Carolina. The Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation is asking everyone interested in preserving these structures to attend the meeting and show support. More information can be found here: Crunch Time! Join the Palmetto Trust and Have a Voice!

Here are a few recent articles describing what’s going on with these buildings (including the Kirkbride): State Nearing Sale of Old Bull Street Mental Hospital and Dual Plans in Motion to Make Use of Old Bull Street Hospital.

Anybody living in South Carolina that can attend and support preservation of these buildings, please do!

(Sorry this is such short notice. I only just found out about it.)