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January 25, 2012 Hudson River Psychiatric Center is 'like a ghost town'

Today is the last day for Hudson River Psychiatric Center, a Poughkeepsie institution that since 1871 has been home for those with mental illness, and until recently, a workplace for hundreds of people. As part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s downsizing agenda, the state will close the hospital and move patients to other facilities, primarily Rockland Psychiatric Center in Orangeburg.

January 24, 2012 Taunton State Hospital to close by year’s end

The Patrick Administration announced plans Tuesday to consolidate mental health services, resulting in the closure of Taunton State Hospital before the year’s end. Veteran nurse Karen Coughlin, who has worked at Taunton State Hospital for 28 years, said the announcement leaves her “disillusioned” with the way the state treats the mentally ill. “They said it’s not based on clinical need but on appropriations and money,” she said. “It’s absolutely sinful.”

January 24, 2012 Time running out for Worcester State Hospital clock tower

It appears the last gasp has escaped from those hoping to save the Worcester State Hospital Clock Tower. The state secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs has decided against requiring an environmental impact report on a plan to demolish the 135-year-old High Victorian Gothic style tower, making way for the Worcester Hospital and Recovery Center to open this year. The state Division of Capital Asset Management has offered to compromise by saving and cataloging the rubble from the tower and reconstructing a replica on the same site.

January 20, 2012 Re-Purposment Plan for Central State Hospital Goes to State Legislation

For years, buildings at Central State Hospital in Milledgeville have remained untouched, and unoccupied. Now, there's a plan for the nearly 2,000 acre campus. "We've lost an awful lot of our mental health capacity, treatment capacity over the last 25 years," says Milledgeville Mayor Richard Bentley. In the 1960s, thousands of patients inhabited the hospital, now there's just 450. It's not just diminishing numbers that plague the grounds. "Old buildings degrade if you don't occupy them, we need to put them back to work now," says Milledgeville City Planner, Mike Couch.

January 1, 2012 Clock Tower may have one last chance

For the last several years, Preservation Worcester has led a determined but thus far unsuccessful effort to persuade state officials to commit to some plan to save the historic Worcester State Hospital Clock Tower. That effort reaches a critical stage this week. To judge from their latest report on the property, state officials now appear to be committed to demolishing the iconic clock tower, and hope to complete that process by about the time the new hospital opens this year.

December 30, 2011 Year in Review: The Psych Hospital

The past year Kings Park Patch reported plenty of news and features about the community's most famous landmark and hottest topic, the Kings Park State Hospital. Take a look back with us.

December 28, 2011 Dorothea Dix Committee moving forward

Bangor City Council is working to get the Dorothea Dix Committee up and running. Earlier this month, the council voted unanimously to create the committee, which will lobby lawmakers and try to convince citizens to keep the facility open. The state is looking into the feasibility of restructuring or closing the facility.

December 27, 2011 Time running out for clock tower

State officials are seeking approval to demolish the historic Worcester State Hospital Clock Tower building, but local preservationists hope a compromise can be brokered to save some of the structure.

December 21, 2011 Debating The Future Of The State Hospital

Debate over replacing the Vermont State Hospital has been going on for nearly a decade, but it's taken on new urgency in the past few months, since the Waterbury facility was badly flooded during Tropical Storm Irene. Last week, Governor Peter Shumlin announced his proposed plan for replacing the 54-bed psychiatric hospital with a new, significantly smaller facility in central Vermont, and additional beds at the Brattleboro Retreat, Rutland Regional Medical Center, and the Windsor Correctional Facility.

December 20, 2011 Warmer winter ahead at former hospital

While the focus lately has been on razing buildings at the former Norwich State Hospital site, the agency that oversees the property hasn’t lost sight of saving the property’s lone salvageable building. Recent work on the former hospital’s administration building has been concerned with “winterizing” the structure, members of the Preston Redevelopment Agency said last week.

December 17, 2011 Preston's former hospital demolition plans get $1M boost

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy kept his promise to Preston Friday as he led the State Bond Commission in approving $1 million for demolition at the former Norwich State Hospital property. The money will be used to take down four of the more notable buildings on the site, according to Preston Redevelopment Agency members, who discussed the issue at a meeting this week. They declined to name the buildings, citing problems with vandals. But a map on display at Preston Town Hall shows the buildings to be among the few that are visible from Route 12.

November 29, 2011 State hospital plan loses backer

The latest financial plan to turn the abandoned Bowen Building on the grounds of the old Bartonville State Hospital into a tourist destination has collapsed. An investor-partner with Richard Weiss - the Missouri man who has a lot of ideas for the 109-year-old building that once housed some of the most severely mentally ill residents of the state and virtually no money to pay for any of them - has taken himself off the project.