Portal:Editor News

Asylum News   (news you can edit!)

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.

November 28, 2011 Psych center closing looms; 125 patients, 375 workers affected

The planned closing of Hudson River Psychiatric Center in Poughkeepsie gets very personal for Michael Fischer. His home is in the Clearwater community residence, a facility adjacent to the state hospital campus and under its supervision. There, he receives services from the staff that keep him functioning well despite his long illness.

November 21, 2011 Marlboro Psychiatric Hospital site to become open space

The sprawling property of the former Marlboro Psychiatric Hospital on Route 520 will become open space and recreational land, state officials announced Friday. The process of converting the 411 acres - demolishing buildings, cleaning the property to meet environmental standards and transferring oversight - is expected to take place over approximately the next two years, according to the state. Gov. Chris Christie recently announced the property of another former state psychiatric hospital, Greystone in Morris County, also would become parkland.

October 20, 2011 Kings Park Psychiatric Center demolition up for bid

The state’s Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation is seeking bids from private construction companies to demolish up to 15 abandoned brick buildings and related structures at the former Kings Park Psychiatric Center.

September 26, 2011 A peek into the future, A rehabbed portion of the Richardson Olmsted Complex will temporarily open for national preservation forum

Efforts to reuse Henry Hobson Richardson's landmark psychiatric hospital are taking a significant step forward. After decades of disrepair, a rehabbed portion of the mammoth Medina sandstone and brick facility, now known as the Richardson Olmsted Complex, will temporarily open for the National Preservation Conference in October, providing a glimpse into its future.

September 3, 2011 Worcester landmark may be torn down

The historic Worcester State Hospital Clock Tower may be torn down as a new facility is built around it. The tower was built in 1833 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but it doesn't qualify for Federal tax credits.

September 2, 2011 Tower site clings to life

The effort over the past couple of years to rescue the historic Worcester State Hospital Clock Tower building from the wrecking ball has rallied many to the cause.

For example, at least 600 messages of support have been sent to a special Facebook page and about 150 people have signed an online petition to save the Gothic-style structure from demolition.

September 1, 2011 Psychiatry in Indiana: The First 175 Years

The 20th-century discipline of psychiatry in Indiana evolved from neurology. The Indiana Neuropsychiatric Association was founded in 1938 and was open to any physician who listed a P, an N, or an NP after his name in the American Medical Association directory. Many of the early members were neurologists. The association became a district branch of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in 1954 and renamed itself the Indiana Psychiatric Society in 1965.

August 12, 2011 Cleanup of Medfield State Hospital Site Shows Progress

Efforts to clean the salvage yard at Medfield State Hospital were a success as workers were able to remove 17,500 tons of asbestos from the site since the beginning of the year, according to officials.

August 12, 2011 Bull Street architect to update plan

The Miami-based architect and planner who came up with the original concept for the 165-acre South Carolina State Hospital campus on Bull Street in Columbia will come back next week to update the plan to reflect the changed market, Upstate developer Bob Hughes said Thursday.

August 11, 2011 Central State patient gets new grave marker

He was locked up and forgotten at Central Indiana State Hospital in 1929, which was then known as an insane asylum. Eighty-one years after John Cathcart died, one of his descendants is trying to make amends. Roy Johnson, who just turned 81, visited the old Central State Hospital Cemetery Thursday morning to honor the man he never met at a place he didn't know existed until last year.

July 27, 2011 Kings Park Psych Hospital Documentary Packs Film Fest

Kings Park: Stories From an American Mental Institution, screened Monday evening at the Stony Brook Film Festival to a record breaking 1550 people. The movie, explores Winer’s time spent at the hospital as a 17-year-old suicidal teen committed to the female violent ward. It is a multi-layered tale sharing the experience of former patients, as well as former employees.

July 26, 2011 Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane opened in 1892

A series of red- brick buildings now part of Fishkill Correctional Facility, a medium security prison in the Town of Fishkill and City of Beacon, was constructed in 1886 as Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. The hospital, situated on the former Dates Farm and acquired for $25,000, accepted its first 261 patients in April 1892. The initial patients were transferred to Matteawan from New York's first — and soon overcrowded — criminal asylum in Auburn, Cayuga County.

July 13, 2011 Abandoned Buildings Could Be Renovated as Medical Centers

If things go as planned, boarded up windows and abandoned buildings at a former insane asylum, Central State Hospital, could be renovated as medical research centers. Mayor Bentley says one of the buildings included in the renovations project is the old nursing dormitory. He says they'd use it to house the current Georgia College nursing students.

July 8, 2011 Putting a Name to Hundreds of Graves in Rochester

The next time you're at Quarry Hill Park in Rochester you may stumble upon the old state hospital cemetery. There's a group marking over 2,000 graves that were left nameless. "The patients were initially given at the state hospital a can of cement with numbers imprinted on the top that corresponded to a patient list and it indicates their location out here on the cemetery," said Beth Thompson, of the Rochester State Hospital Cemetery Recognition Group.

July 7, 2011 Rethinking a hospital site

What to do with Medfield State Hospital? Six years after an environmental cleanup began at the closed institution for mentally ill patients, 80 acres that are slated for redevelopment, about a third of the grounds, should be clear of contaminants this summer.

July 7, 2011 Hagedorn state hospital in Lebanon Twp. is closing

Gov. Christie has decided to close the state’s Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital here in June 2012, to the dismay of area lawmakers. But members of the board that oversees it vow to continue their work to the very end. “I’m very, very disappointed in the governor’s decision,” said state Sen. Michael Doherty (R-Warren/Hunterdon), a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee. “It’s tragic on so many levels.”

June 29, 2011 Old Central State Hospital burns

Heavy smoke filled the sky near the West Washington Street and Tibbs Avenue around 6 a.m. Wednesday. Someone in the area alerted firefighters by knocking on the door of Station 18. When firefighters followed the smoke, they discovered a room in the former Central Indiana State Hospital was burning. Those flames were knocked down quickly and contained to the first floor.

June 29, 2011 RTC up for contest dollars

The Otter Tail County Historical Society is hoping that a last minute push by area residents can help convince people around the state that the Kirkbride building matters. “This Place Matters,” an initiative sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, launched a community challenge contest in June. Groups dedicated to preserving a particular place were able to enter a place into the challenge’s ranks, and people can vote for a cause they find compelling. This year, the historical society entered the Fergus Falls State Hospital into the community challenge. As of 8:30 a.m. today, it is the 82nd most voted for place in the challenge, out of 100.

June 29, 2011 Vision for Healing 'Megacenter' at Site of Former State Hospital Still On Hold

The state is still weighing its options on what to do with a 57-acre facility in Crownsville, but one man has a vision to transform the area into a “megacenter of health, healing and hope.” In April, the Maryland Board of Public Works declared the former headquarters of the state Department of Housing and Community Development as surplus, and moved forward with plans to sell it. The building was once the home to the Crownsville State Hospital.

June 23, 2011 Historic buildings demolished at former Westboro State Hospital

A piggery built in 1890 and a barn built in 1918 were razed before the Massachusetts Historical Commission or the Northboro Historical Commission were notified. As part of the Westborough State Hospital property, both farm buildings are listed on the state and national registers of historic places.

June 19, 2011 Group wants to show respect for thousands of patients buried in Willard State Hospital cemetery

This is where 5,776 patients of Willard State Hospital are buried. They either died at the large psychiatric hospital or were returned here after they died. Willard was closed by the state in 1995, (it’s now home to a state corrections drug rehab center) although Colleen says there was a burial as recently as 2000. At one time, I could have looked out at hundreds of metal tomb stones sticking out of the ground. Now the place has gone back to nature; only a few of the old markers are visible.

June 9, 2011 Judge OKs Bull Street land sale

A state circuit judge on Wednesday approved the sale of the 165-acre South Carolina State Hospital campus on Columbia’s Bull Street to an Upstate developer in one of the most anticipated and significant land deals in city history. The $15 million that developer Bob Hughes has offered to pay for the property was ruled as “adequate compensation” by Judge Ernest Kinard Jr. of Camden. The sale now must be approved by the State Budget and Control Board, which is expected to decide at its meeting next week.

May 31, 2011 Mental hospital closure delayed

The deadline to close a state psychiatric hospital in Rome has been pushed back amid advocates’ concerns that community services for mentally ill and developmentally disabled individuals wouldn’t be ready in time. Tentatively slated to close June 30, Northwest Georgia Regional Hospital will remain open until at least Sept. 30, as the state continues to roll out new community services in North Georgia, including crisis stabilization units for the mentally ill.

May 30, 2011 Electric shock treatment: Brutal or life-saving?

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. — Recently, actress and writer Carrie Fisher told Oprah Winfrey that she receives electroconvulsive therapy regularly to treat depression caused by her bipolar disorder. Taken aback, Winfrey asked, "They still do that?" Yes, they do. About 100,000 people in the United States receive electroconvulsive therapy, better known as electric shock treatment, every year for severe mental illness, but that number may be surprising to those who thought ECT went out of favor with the advent of better psychotropic drugs.

May 25, 2011 Case made for RTC preservation

That was the message Tuesday at M State, where about 50 Fergus Falls residents gathered at an event hosted by Friends of the Kirkbride. The goal of the event was to show that economic development and historical preservation – at the Regional Treatment Center and at other places around the city – are not mutually exclusive concepts. “It’s not only an academic, esoteric thing to say that (historic buildings) are part of our heritage,” said event host Chris Schuelke, executive director of the Otter Tail County Historical Society. He introduced five speakers to show that historic sites can be converted into economic drivers while keeping a city’s heritage intact.

May 24, 2011 RTC demolition put on hold

The phased demolition plan for Parcel D of the Regional Treatment Center was put on hold until late fall after a special meeting Monday where many urged the city council not to move forward with the plan. Among those requesting that demolition be delayed was Global Athlete Village, a Minnesota-based non-profit service organization interested in the Kirkbride building. “They’re working on putting together a proposal, but they had urged the council not to proceed with any demolition at this time,” said City Administrator Mark Sievert.

May 5, 2011 One woman hospitalized after blaze at Eastern State Hospital

A woman was hospitalized after she was burned during an intense, but short-lived natural gas fire on the grounds of Eastern State Hospital Lexington on Thursday afternoon. The woman, who was not identified, is a maintenance worker who apparently struck a gas line with a lawn mower, which sparked the fire that ignited a nearby outbuilding

May 4, 2011 Developers Receive Statewide Award For Redevelopment Of State Hospital

A Traverse City historic preservation project is one of a handful being recognized this year by the Governor's office. The rehabilitation of the former Northern Michigan Asylum is about one-third complete

April 30, 2011 Patient sets fire at Vermont State Hospital

A Vermont State Hospital employee extinguished a fire in a patient’s room just after midnight on Thursday. The fire, which was intentionally set by a patient, was in the middle of the room, according to a press release from the Vermont State Police.

April 28, 2011 Fire breaks out at Henryton Hospital‎

Firefighters were alerted this evening for a reported fire at the Henryton State Hospital. Firefighters arrived to find heavy fire through the roof of a large 4 story building. Numerous Firefighters from Carroll, Howard, and Baltimore Counties were called to assist. The Sykesville Fire Department has responded to numerous fires at the abandoned state hospital in the past several years. The hospital has been shut down by the state and there is no electric or utilities to the facility. It continues to be a problem for firefighter safety when we are called to the scene. In recent years the facility has been a hot spot for malicious teenagers and ghost hunters. Related Article, Related Article

April 26, 2011 Excavations continue at Eastern State Hospital

Excavations are still in progress on the grounds of Eastern State Hospital Lexington, where a team of archaeologists are exhuming human remains of former patients from the 1840s to the 1860s. ESH, located on West Fourth Street in Lexington, is the second oldest psychiatric facility in the country and is thought to have thousands of bodies buried in different locations near the hospital. The Kentucky Archaeology Survey was commissioned by the Kentucky Finance and Administration Cabinet to examine the ESH area, where construction for the new Bluegrass Community and Technical College construction will begin.

February 22, 2011 Unearthing Of Remains Found At Eastern State Hospital Starting Wednesday

On Wednesday, the Finance and Administration Cabinet's Division of Engineering and a team of archaeologists from the Kentucky Archaeological Survey are scheduled to begin exhuming human remains found in an unmarked cemetery on the grounds of Eastern State Hospital Lexington.

February 11, 2011 A look at the history of the Hastings Regional Center

It was built as the Hospital for the Un-curably Insane. Now it is better known as the Hastings Regional Center. The facility has been part of the community's rich history for more than a century. And as lawmakers decide whether it will remain open, News Five's Anthony Pura takes us back in time to see it's storied past and uncertain future. Images frozen in time. Memories pulled from archives. Stories told from recollection. "It used to be a fully self sustaining place," said Laverne Schreiner.

February 10, 2011 'They died at the hospital and no one ever claimed their remains'

The medical records room on the Oregon State Hospital campus looks exactly as it sounds: like a records room. Tucked away on the on the hospital campus in Salem, the small room holds the ashes of 3,500 cremated patients. "These were people who lived at the Oregon State Hospital and other institutions between 1914 and the 1970s," said Gipson-King. "They died here at the hospital and no one ever came to claim their remains."

February 6, 2011 Discovery of graves at Eastern State Hospital fuels family mystery

Lois and Cindy Shelton, a mother and daughter in Lexington, are trying to solve a family mystery that is buried along with the thousands of patients who were interred on the Eastern State Hospital Lexington grounds for more than 100 years.

February 3, 2011 Eastern State Hospital demolition

The main building at the old Eastern State Hospital Lexington was being torn down at the corner of Newtown Pike and West Fourth Street in Lexington, Ky., Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011. A new Bluegrass Community and Technical College will be built at this location and a new Eastern State Hospital will be built on the property at the Coldstream Research Park. The demolition of this building started on Monday and is being done by Solid Rock Construction from West Portsmouth, OH.