A tour of one of Indiana’s remaining Psychiatric Hospitals
When we lose the old asylums, America loses a part of history that should never be forgotten.
In 2015, demolition was completed on the majestic Greystone Park State Hospital in New Jersey, despite public outcry. Buffalo State Hospital had been listed on the National Trust’s list of twelve nationwide "sites to save" and the Preservation League’s statewide list of seven "sites to save." It has now found new life as the Richardson Olmstead Campus, home to a lavish hotel and with future plans to turn the rest of the campus into a cultural enrichment center. And perhaps one of the most memorable, if not notorious designs, was that of Danvers State Hospital. Despite being on the National Register of Historic Places, most of Danvers was demolished in 2007. Richard Trask of the Danvers Archival Center wrote: "The failure to protect and adaptively reuse this grand exterior is a monumental blot in the annals of Massachusetts preservation. What might have been a dignified transformation of a magnificent structure which was originally built to serve the best intentions, but at times lost its way through human frailty, now is a mere ghost-image of itself. And we and our progeny are the losers." (3)
Richmond State Hospital, along with many of its sister hospitals in Indiana, suffered similar losses. As patient population dwindled, we were able to consolidate our active treatment space from multiple buildings to a single, modern, active treatment “mall.” This “mall” became known as the Clinical Treatment Area (CTC) and consisted of multiple classrooms and group therapy rooms, health clinic areas including dental, podiatry, and internal medicine services, canteen, video games room, internet café, beauty and barber shop, gym and basketball court, and lecture/training hall.
As a result of this new building, the older building which housed patient care areas fell into disuse, and eventually fell victim to demolition.
