tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25638492395715017462024-03-18T05:47:49.903-04:00The Kingston Lounge<br>Guerrilla preservation and urban archaeology. Brooklyn and beyond.Richard Nickel, Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15777516635980832695noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563849239571501746.post-32358065246077334842013-05-20T14:17:00.000-04:002013-05-26T14:34:42.115-04:00Ellis Island - Baggage and Dormitory Building<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/ellisbaggage/00.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">View of one <span style="font-size: x-small;">of<span style="font-size: x-small;"> the many dorm areas which comprise the bulk of the Baggage and Dormitory building; during <span style="font-size: x-small;">its peak<span style="font-size: x-small;">, this area<span style="font-size: x-small;"> would have held as many beds as could possibly fit into the space.</span></span></span></span></span></span>
<br />
<br />
"The Island of Tears" is a moniker often associated with Ellis Island, the nation's busiest immigration station during its years of operation (1892-1954), and easily its most famous. This name - which refers to those turned away from America for deportation to their countries of origin - seems most closely connected in the public consciousness with the 2% of immigrants deported for medical reasons. Certainly, the notion of a child separated from their family due to the discovery of trachoma behind the eyelid and sent, alone, back to whence they came is horrifying. But disease was not the only reason for denial to passage through the "golden door" that Emma Lazarus wrote about. A variety of other factors - ranging from poverty to belonging to an "undesirable" ethnic or religious group to suspicion of radical political leaning - could lead to detention or deportation. The Baggage and Dormitory building, located on the North side of the island, was the epicenter of detention for non-medical cases for almost half a century. Stabilized and boarded off in 2011, here's a look at the building before it "went dark".<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/ellisbaggage/02.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Like much of the Baggage and Dormitory Building, the sta<span style="font-size: x-small;">ircases <span style="font-size: x-small;">favored functionality o<span style="font-size: x-small;">ver ornament<span style="font-size: x-small;">.<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<br />
<br />
Ellis Island Immigration Station opened in 1892, a replacement for the Castle Garden Immigration Station at the southern tip of Manhattan. The original main reception building, constructed of wood, burned down in 1897; the iconic Beaux Arts building that would replace it opened in 1900. It quickly became apparent that, in addition to the hospital complex that was beginning to rise up on the artificial islands constructed south of the original island, space was needed for non-medical detentions as well. The Main Building simply couldn't accommodate the number of detainees that were landing every day on the island. Under Commissioner Robert Watchorn, such a building was constructed, attached to the kitchen and laundry building in back of the Main Building, and opening in 1909.<br />
<br />
This new building was much simpler, architecturally speaking, than most of the other buildings on Ellis Island; this spoke both to the haste with which it was put up and to the intended future use of the building. While the principal use of the building would be the detention of suspected undesirables until a board could convene to decide whether to deport them, a secondary use - at least for the first few years of the building's operation - was the storage of immigrants' luggage while they went through the admissions lines. Thus, the new structure was given the name "Baggage and Dormitory Building", although it could well have been given a title truer to its actual purpose: "Detention Center".<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/ellisbaggage/03.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">A tiny bathtub was retrofitted into one of the bathroom<span style="font-size: x-small;">s in the building<span style="font-size: x-small;">. In order to attach the <span style="font-size: x-small;">water lines at the height at which they <span style="font-size: x-small;">came out of the wall - where presumably a full-sized <span style="font-size: x-small;">tub ha<span style="font-size: x-small;">d once stood - a <span style="font-size: x-small;">wooden base had to be constructed under t<span style="font-size: x-small;">he tub. In over half a century of abandonment, this base rotted away.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/ellisbaggage/04.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">The commun<span style="font-size: x-small;">al bathroom are<span style="font-size: x-small;">as would allow a single <span style="font-size: x-small;">official to oversee goings-on while detainees washed up en masse.<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/ellisbaggage/05.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">The bathing area had partitio<span style="font-size: x-small;">ns between the bathtubs, b<span style="font-size: x-small;">ut no curtains to shield the detainees from the watchful eyes of the Island's officials - there was no true privacy in the Baggage and Dormitory Building.<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/ellisbaggage/06.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">A closeup of another <span style="font-size: x-small;">tub, ravaged <span style="font-size: x-small;">over 50 years of abandon<span style="font-size: x-small;">ment a<span style="font-size: x-small;">nd the attendant water damage.<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<br />
<br />
Of course, the immigrants processed at Ellis Island were not from the upper classes of the societies from which they emigrated; First-class and Second-class passengers disembarked in Manhattan proper, and allowed into the country unhindered. The Island primarily served steerage-class passengers, who generally packed all they could carry into a couple of suitcases - food included for the month-plus journey, as they were not served meals on the ships for which they often paid most everything they owned for passage - and suffered in cramped communal quarters below deck.<br />
<br />
Upon arrival, the procedure for processing immigrants varied somewhat over time, but generally followed this pattern: after standing in a long line, sometimes for many hours on a busy day, each immigrant was given a quick medical examination. They were asked a battery of questions, and from there - in most cases - they were entered into the registry and allowed to meet those waiting for them at the "kissing post" - the part of the island that gave it the other moniker by which it was known, "The Island of Hope". From there, they would board a ferry and enter their new lives in America.<br />
<br />
But just as the medical examination was meant to discern those who might be carrying disease into the New Land, the battery of questions was aimed at discerning whether an immigrant might be undesirable for other reasons. Just like the various diseases which gained greater or lesser prominence over the years, various causes for detention asserted themselves at different times during the island's heyday from 1892-1924. One constant cause for concern was poverty - among the questions asked of prospective immigrants were the amount of money they carried, whether or not they had arranged to stay with family or had other lodging arranged, and whether they were skilled in a trade. Unskilled laborers without a place to stay or money to get started were perceived as likely to wind up on the dole, living in almshouses, and generally a burden on the public. Many were detained and eventually deported for this reason.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/ellisbaggage/07.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Most salvageable artifacts had bee<span style="font-size: x-small;">n re<span style="font-size: x-small;">moved from the Baggage and Dormitory building<span style="font-size: x-small;">, as s<span style="font-size: x-small;">een in this <span style="font-size: x-small;">view of another dormitory section of the building.</span></span></span></span></span></span>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/ellisbaggage/08.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">On the first floor - briefly used to store immigrants' baggage while they waited in the lines <span style="font-size: x-small;">for admission and registration - a number of remaini<span style="font-size: x-small;">ng arti<span style="font-size: x-small;">facts were collected. One was an incredibly heavy Diebold safe. (It <span style="font-size: x-small;">would not open.)</span></span></span></span></span>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/ellisbaggage/09.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Radiators were collected on one half of this dormitory; air ducts on the other.<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span></span></span></span>
<br />
<br />
Perhaps there was some merit to suggestions that the indigent, likely to become a burden on society, ought to be sent back; arguments of this sort are still in play in contemporary discussions of immigration policy. But some of the other grounds for detention and deportation certainly seem more sinister in nature - as early as the first few years of the operation of the Immigration Station, various ethnic or religious groups were singled out, as were those with undesirable political leanings. In the first decade of the 20th century, a memo circulated at the facility mentioned finding reason to detain "Jews, Slavs, Italians, and Socialists".<br />
<br />
At various times, other ethnic groups and political ideologies were targeted: Irish and "Oriental"; Radical and Anarchist. Of course, as New York City already had large populations of Jewish, Irish, and Italian immigrants, it would have been unpopular to codify the discrimination into policy. Instead, officials working at the island would selectively over-enforce some of the admissions criteria. A person who might pass through the line as a sane Protestant might be detained as an insane Jew. A minor past criminal offense might not be troubling in a Spaniard, but might be cause for concern in an Italian.<br />
<br />
Thousands of prospective immigrants were detained in the Baggage and Dormitory Building between 1909 and 1924, when the Immigration Act of 1924 placed extensive restrictions on immigration. The "Golden Door" slammed shut, and the entire island took on what had previously been the function of the Baggage and Dormitory Building: detention and deportation. Now, this building was only one of many that could be used to house undesirables in preparation for shipping them back to their countries of origin. Immigration to the United States of America was now severely limited among class and ethnic lines.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/ellisbaggage/10.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">View of a<span style="font-size: x-small;">nother of this building's many commun<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">al dormitory areas.<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span></span></span></span>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/ellisbaggage/11.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">In addition to the <span style="font-size: x-small;">large dormitories, there w<span style="font-size: x-small;">as a corridor of individual rooms that could each accom<span style="font-size: x-small;">modate two detainee<span style="font-size: x-small;">s.</span></span></span></span></span>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/ellisbaggage/12.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">The interior of one of these rooms, with "clean" mattresses left ro<span style="font-size: x-small;">lled and ready for the next ti<span style="font-size: x-small;">me the room would be used - a day that never came.<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span></span></span></span>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/ellisbaggage/13.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Mattresses were sterilized in b<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">ulk in giant autoclaves in a room on the third floor of the building.<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span></span></span></span>
<br />
<br />
The final residential use of the Baggage and Dormitory building is perhaps its darkest. On December 8, 1941 - the day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor - the first group of German, Italian, and Japanese who were American citizens or legal aliens were rounded up and brought to this building. Ellis Island was to become an internment camp as well as a detention facility for the usual suspects. When the Baggage and Dormitory building was full to capacity with people who had committed no crime but to belong to a particular ethnic group, the internment camp spread out to much of the rest of the island, including the former hospital complex.<br />
<br />
While the history of the internment of Japanese Americans is a well-known tale, and the subject of numerous apologetic gestures by the United States government towards those sent to the camps, it is not as well known that Germans and Italians suffered similar fate. Across the United States, over 10,000 German Americans and 3,000 Italian Americans were interned. Many of these came through Ellis Island, which served as a sort of waystation for processing those under internment and relocating them to the various camps scattered throughout the nation. Approximately 600-800 "enemy aliens" would pass through Ellis Island per month during the height of its use as an internment camp; most would be sent to other facilities, but some remained on the island for years. Because of the ethnic makeup of New York City, most of these were of German or Italian descent.<br />
<br />
After the war ended, "enemy aliens" were released from the interment camp, and although the European conflict had ended a year earlier, it was only then that the Italian and German detainees were freed. Internment remained a contentious and polarizing issue for many years; finally, in 1980, President Jimmy Carter created the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians - specifically to study the issue as it pertained to Japanese Americans. Beginning in 1990 under the supervision of the George H. W. Bush administration, payments and official apologies were made to surviving Japanese Americans interned in the United States. To this day, there has been no official recognition of the internment of European Americans labeled as "enemy aliens", and no similar offer of compensation.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/ellisbaggage/14.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">A rotting pile of mattresses sat in a corner of the Baggage and Dormitor<span style="font-size: x-small;">y Building from the time of its vacancy until 2011, when the building was cleaned out, stabili<span style="font-size: x-small;">zed, and boarded off.<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span></span></span>
<br />
<br />
After its use as an internment camp, the Baggage and Dormitory building was left largely vacant, although it was still maintained until the island closed for good in 1954 and was completely abandoned. Even as the nearby Main Building was completely renovated to the tune of $150 million, and the Hospital Complex was stabilized and cleaned up some years later, the detention building of Ellis Island remained untouched, slowly taking on more and more water damage, until 2011, when it was stabilized, cleaned out, and boarded off. Perhaps there is a reason for this; while the Main Building saw 98% of prospective immigrants pass into America and thus represents hope, and while the Hospital Complex saw many prospective immigrants convalesce to the point that they were able to enter and thus represents healing, the Baggage and Dormitory Building has no such positive context. It was, always, a building first and foremost for detention.<br />
<br />
And perhaps, when more funds are secured, it too should be reopened as part of the Ellis Island National Monument. Classism, racism, and anti-semitism are a part of the American story just as much as the "melting pot" concept we learned a glossy version of in Social Studies classrooms. Internment was a reality of our national conduct during the Second World War. These aren't happy stories, but they are fundamentally American stories, and they deserve to be told. The Baggage and Dormitory Building at Ellis Island would be a wonderful place for the telling of these tales.Richard Nickel, Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15777516635980832695noreply@blogger.com409tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563849239571501746.post-64627691297853849432012-08-13T13:02:00.000-04:002013-05-05T15:02:53.239-04:00Worcester State Hospital<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/01.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Sunrise streaming into the soon-to-be-demolished Clocktower, one of only two structures remaining from the 1877 Kirkbride complex at Worcester State Hospital.</span>
<br />
<br />
The Kirkbride building at Worcester State Hospital, a once-sprawling complex conceived in 1869, built between 1873 and 1877, and continuously used for well over a century, has suffered an unfortunate fate over the last 21 years. In 1991, a fire tore through the complex, destroying much of the original construction. Of what remained, the state decided to demolish all but the administrative pavilion - known as the Clocktower, due to its distinctive clock tower - and the Hooper turret to its left. With little fanfare, the three remaining wards and Gage turret were torn down along with several other historic structures in 2008. Now, the state plans to destroy the historic Clocktower, leaving only a hollow monument where it stands.<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/02.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">The edge of the Hooper Turret in 2008, with the Clocktower building in the distance, flanked by several buildings demolished later that year.</span>
<br />
<br />
<h3 style="color: red;">
The State Lunatic Asylum (1833-1877)</h3>
<br />
The Kirkbride structure wasn't a part of the original State Lunatic Asylum at Worcester, the first public asylum in the state of Massachusetts. Far from it - the cornerstone wasn't even laid until over 40 years after the asylum's founding; two other Kirkbride structures had already been tested in the Commonwealth, at Taunton and Northampton, and the Worcester Kirkbride was built during the same time period as the famous example at Danvers State Hospital.<br />
<br />
But the State Lunatic Asylum began much earlier, on a scale perhaps less-grand, but certainly noble. In 1829, Horace Mann - charged by the Commonwealth to report on the condition of the insane within its borders - returned with a damning report, accompanied by some progressive recommendations. Insane persons without means - those who could not afford boarding in one of the private asylums spread throughout the United States to ease the burden of insanity in the families of the wealthy - had few options. In some cases, when families could (and wanted to) manage it, the insane would be given care at home. Otherwise, however, they wound up in almshouses or jails. Mann's report echoed the future findings of notable mental healthcare reformer Dorothea Dix, who would not study the state of mental healthcare for another decade.<br />
<br />
Mann suggested that the state act quickly to establish a "State Lunatic Asylum", so that the insane might receive care in a setting suitable to recovery or, at least, civil treatment. Virginia and Maryland had erected such public asylums at the end of the 18th century; Kentucky, New York, and South Carolina had joined them in the 1820s. On Mann's strong recommendation, Massachusetts became the sixth state to provide publicly funded care for the insane in an institutional setting - and the site chosen for the new asylum was Worcester.<br />
<br />
The Bloomingdale Insane Asylum opened in January, 1833, in a single building constructed to house a superintendent and 120 patients. Governor Levi Lincoln personally showed up to announce its opening. By December of that same year, Dr. Samuel B. Woodward, its first superintendent, announced that it was over capacity and turning away needy patients. While care was tendered civilly and humanely to those at the institution, it was clear that 120 beds were not enough. In 1835, the hospital - now known as the State Lunatic Asylum - was expanding.<br />
<br />
In 1841, Dorothea Dix visited her home state of Massachusetts in order to study the conditions of the insane throughout the Commonwealth. Her report echoed Mann's report, spelling out deplorable conditions for the insane throughout most of the state, and concluding that the asylum at Worcester be expanded in order to provide care to more of the insane residents of Massachusetts. Some expansions were made to the hospital, and by the middle of the 1840s, there was room for 360 patients - three times the number the hospital was originally designed for. But instead of continually adding to one asylum, the Commonwealth elected to begin construction on new asylums, in other parts of the state. Asylums would be built in Boston, in Taunton, and in Northampton before Worcester would be significantly expanded.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="color: red;">
The Kirkbride Building (1877-1991)</h3>
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/03.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">* A public-domain aerial photograph of the completed Kirkbride complex (and Lowell Hall, a nurses' cottage to the right).</span>
<br />
<br />
In 1869, current superintendent Merrick Bemis proposed moving the State Lunatic Asylum at Worcester to a new locale in the suburbs, and the present hospital site was purchased. Bemis's plan was to have a large central building for chronic cases, and a variety of smaller pavilions for convalescent care - an early proposal for a cottage-plan asylum. Bemis had always been an idealist in his superintendentship; he had appointed the first female physician to the staff, and had run the first incarnation of the Asylum with the edicts of Moral Treatment in mind, although he disagreed with Moral Treatment pioneer Thomas Story Kirkbride on the layout of the ideal asylum.<br />
<br />
Bemis's plans were not to be, however - he went into private practice before plans could be made to utilize the land purchased during his tenure. His successor, Bernard D. Eastman, melded his plan for a segregated population with his adherence to the linear plan layout espoused by Kirkbride. In 1873, construction on the Worcester Kirkbride began; it would be completed in four years, with some parts - including the Clocktower - finished by 1876. Chronic patients remained in the original 1830s buildings, while patients who were seen as possessing a chance of leaving the asylum system were moved into the new building in 1877.<br />
<br />
<b style="color: red;">ADDENDUM 8/14/2012</b><br />
<br />
In the original post yesterday (8/13/2012), I incorrectly attributed the design of the Kirkbride complex to Ward P. Delano of Fuller &; Delano, a prominent Worcester architectural firm. My friend and fellow photographer Ethan McElroy, of <a href="http://www.kirkbridebuildings.com/" target="_blank">Kirkbride Buildings</a>, sent me a message that he had also initially believed the vast number of online sources that point to Delano, but that the actual architect was George Dutton Rand of Weston & Rand. I reached out to <a href="http://www.preservationworcester.org/" target="_blank">Preservation Worcester</a>, a group which worked hard for many years to save as much as possible of the original construction, and who is responsible for the agreement to save the Hooper turret (as well as to construct the monument). Valerie Ostrander and Susan Ceccacci were kind enough to return my correspondence almost immediately, and to confirm (this time with reliably sourced information) that it was, indeed, Rand's work. Additionally, Rand's next firm, Rand & Taylor, completed some enlargements in 1887. Delano was linked to the hospital in a couple of ways - he designed the farmhouse building, and in 1898 Fuller, Dalano &; Frost enlarged the kitchen of the complex. I would like to personally thank Ethan, Valerie, and Susan for helping clear up this confusion.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="color: red;">
The "Clocktower" Administrative Building (Constructed 1873-1876)</h3>
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/04.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">The Worcester Clocktower was the administrative pavilion for the new Kirkbride complex; elegantly appointed in the High Victorian Gothic style of the entire campus, it is one of only two portions that still remain, and is now slated for demolition.</span>
<br />
<br />
According to the Kirkbride prescription, the seat of power for the linear-plan asylum was to be an administrative pavilion set in the center of two wings, one each for male and female patients. Delano envisioned a clock tower reaching into the sky as a representative symbol of this seat. Around the tower, he built the administrative pavilion, a five-story structure utilizing the High Victorian Gothic architectural modality of the rest of the complex. Sitting atop what was known as "Hospital Hill", the structure was visible from far away, and left no illusions as to where the decisionmakers in the hospital resided.<br />
<br />
Like any Admin in a Kirkbride building, the Clocktower provided not only administrative functions, but also a residence for the hospital superintendent. As was usually the case in these sorts of buildings, the Worcester Clocktower was much grander than the two wings radiating from its sides. It was thought that the ideal for patients to strive for would be that central point in the building, and so the most convalescent wards - those for patients likely to be released soon - were placed adjacent to this imposing building. Farthest away would be the wards for the violent patients.<br />
<br />
The interior of the Clocktower has recently been determined to be beyond salvage by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, who is set to demolish the 135-year-old structure. Here is a glimpse at the interior, which features a unique floating staircase that winds up to the top floor of the building, as well as asymmetrical octagonal atria on each floor with grand arches allowing passage in eight directions.<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/05.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">First-floor landing of floating staircase. The first floor was by far the hardest-hit by the fire in 1991 that destroyed most of the complex; soot still covers much of the walls here.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/06.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">• Massively damaged by the fire in 1991, the first and second floors have merged here through the loss of the floor, although a fireplace still clings to the wall. This level of damage is atypical of the structure on the whole; most of the floors are surprisingly sound.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/07.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">The second-floor landing of the floating staircase.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/08.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">The second-floor atrium directly after sunrise; the outlines of the original arches that radiated in every direction can be seen, as well as the orange light of the rising sun through a kitchen to the left.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/09.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">A corridor off the second-floor atrium is illuminated by the orange glow of the sunrise.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/10.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">A second-floor parlor, although damaged by decades of neglect, still shows its grandeur first thing in the morning.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/11.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">The third-floor landing of the floating staircase.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/12.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Even with boards over the windows, enough light gets in to the old library during an 8-minute exposure to show off the elegant construction.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/13.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">The fourth-floor landing of the floating staircase, during civil twilight, demonstrates the main use of the Clocktower for the past couple of decades - as a roosting area for pigeons.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/14.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">A view into the fourth-floor atrium shortly after sunrise.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/15.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">A standard room on the fourth floor of the Clocktower building, which would have served as a residence for the superintendent of the asylum.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/16.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">One of the bathrooms in the superintendent's residence still has a claw-foot bathtub intact. The high window was designed to allow for light to access the interior of the building without sacrificing privacy in the days before electrical lighting.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/17.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">The fifth-floor landing of the floating staircase reveals the source of the light that shines down five floors - a large skylight, which was probably modified at some point in the 20th century.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/18.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Climbing up into the clock tower proper, this landing contains the bell, which was originally rung by the clock tower mechanisms. Unfortunately, the ladder leading up to the clock face itself seemed in dodgy enough condition that it did not seem safe to climb.</span>
<br />
<br />
<h3 style="color: red;">
The Wards (Constructed 1873-1877, Destroyed 1991 & 2008)</h3>
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/19.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">• The rear of the Lincoln ward as it was about to be prepped for demolition in 2008, with a view to the Clocktower at right.</span>
<br />
<br />
Each wing of the Kirkbride complex originally consisted of five flagstone-and-brick wards, along with an elegant turret reminiscent of Vienna's <i>Narrenturm</i> - itself one of the world's notable insane asylums. From the back of the Clocktower, some other connected buildings sprang, designed to match the complex, including a massive chapel with a grand pipe organ, a kitchen, bakery, dining hall, etc. In 1991, a devastating five-alarm fire ripped through the complex, destroying most of the original Kirkbride; the Clocktower was saved, as was the Hooper turret to its left.<br />
<br />
On the right wing, three wards were saved by the diligence and swift response of the Worcester Fire Department. Quimby, originally the violent ward at the end, connected to Salisbury, and Salisbury to Lincoln. Lincoln connected to the Gage turret, which was also saved. This complex, often referred to as "The Wards" in the time between the fire and their demolition in 2008, was a good representative piece of the asylum, even if most of the structure was lost. Where these wards would have connected with other parts of the complex, salvaged stone from the parts that had to be demolished following the fire capped off the buildings. What follows are a number of photographs from this section of the building, taken over the course of a couple of years leading up to their complete demolition.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="color: red;">
The Ward Basements</h3>
<br />
As a personal note, I almost never find the historic locations I photograph to be "creepy" or "unsettling". They are places where history, good and bad, occurred; I attempt to capture that history to the best of my abilities. That said, every time I visited the basements under the wards at Worcester State Hospital, I decidedly found them unsettling. There were features built into the basements that were unlike anything I've seen in dozens of other asylums, and it took a good amount of digging to figure out what some of these things were - and then the reason for my unsettlement became clear.<br />
<br />
The basements under these wards were renovated in the 30s and 40s so that a team of doctors working at the asylum could test out experimental therapies, especially new forms of hydrotherapy. Institutional tile was added to the basement walls in order to make the walls easy to clean and more resilient to the damage from the water. These experimental therapies were dubious at best, but what the basements were later used for, during the 50s and 60s when the hospital was at its most overcrowded, was even worse. An experimental mass-shower room was turned into a punitive "hose-down" room - the showerheads were removed, and a protective cage was installed around the operator's booth to minimize the risk to the orderly manning the controls. At the height of overcrowding, some windowless basement rooms were even used to house patients.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/20.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">• A basement corridor, into which a bedframe had been placed. The benches at right date to the era when this entire section of the basement was given over to experimental water therapies.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/21.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">The group-shower turned hose-down-room under the Lincoln ward.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/22.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Temperature gauges in control booth of same room.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/23.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">* At first glance this was similar to a mortician's table typically seen in a hospital's morgue, but placement under the Lincoln ward didn't make sense. As it turned out, this was a table used for resting hydrotherapy.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/24.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">These mannequin legs sat at the base of one of the staircases for several years; in 2008, they had disappeared from the hospital basement.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/25.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">* A scale found under the Gage turret. In 1949, lensman Herbert Gehr photographed a patient being weighed on this same scale in this room during an experiment, for LIFE magazine: <a href="http://www.gstatic.com/hostedimg/744281b7f9f8a24d_large" target="_blank">click here to see it</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/26.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">* The Gage turret, under which the temperature-sealed experimental chamber portrayed in the previous photograph was housed. Demolished in 2008.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<h3 style="color: red;">
The Wards Proper</h3>
<br />
Unlike the unsettling basements beneath, the three wards of Worcester State Hospital that survived the fire of 1991 were beautiful and optimistic, in the style of any Kirkbride building. With high ceilings, wide corridors, spacious patient rooms, and large dayrooms, it is pretty hard to argue that this would not have been a comparatively good place for the insane to receive treatment before it became overcrowded. Although nearly pitch-black inside - the Commonwealth boarded off the windows after abandoning the structure in the wake of the fire - it is pretty clear from the size and placement of the windows that this would have been a bright and pleasant atmosphere.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/27.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">* View from a dayroom into a ward corridor. This exposure was over 10 minutes in length, a testament to how little light made it into the hospital after it was boarded up.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/28.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">* A wheelchair in the corridor of the Salisbury ward.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/29.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">A dormitory for several patients, demonstrating the tall windows found throughout the wards.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/30.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">The junction between wards, partially artificially lit with LED lanterns.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/31.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Strange to find inside the closet of a patient bedroom, this collection of biological specimen containers appears (from dating on one of the canisters) to have been here since the 1960s. The stopper remained in place on the test tube for nearly half a century.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/32.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Part of the Quimby violent ward was converted for use by children some time between the 1960s and the hospital's abandonment. There were toys strewn about in this section, and someone had set up a tricycle in the middle of the hallway.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/33.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">At a junction in between wards, a couch slowly gathered dust - and was torn apart by some sort of animal, as evidenced from the scraps of cushion on the floor around it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/34.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">A geriatric chair sits in a beam of light from a partially-unboarded window under an arch between hallways in the Lincoln ward.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/35.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">A pram sits on the landing of a stairwell in the Lincoln ward.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/36.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">The top floors of the wards featured dormer windows, and were about the only part of the remaining wards to catch some natural light - there were several boards pulled loose from windows. Here, a patient bedframe sits in a dormitory.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/37.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">The strike plate on the door in the same dormitory.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/38.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">A saw leaning against the wall in the same dormitory.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/39.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Bedframes were piled up in a single-occupancy room on the top floor.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/40.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">This staff room, on the top floor of the asylum, contained an "Important Notice" stenciled onto the wall.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/41.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Detail of the same.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<h3 style="color: red;">
Later Years & Recent History</h3>
<br />
After the fire in 1991 leveled most of the Kirkbride complex, the rest was boarded up and left to fall apart. Some of it had not been used for a very long time already; some had been in use up until the fire. In the more-than-a-century that the asylum was in use, it went through a number of phases, as did many asylums in America, Kirkbride plan and otherwise. The 19th century saw optimism, Moral Treatment, patients housed humanely in a place that provided them the best treatments available at a time when there was no such thing as a cure. The early 20th century saw those same asylums filling up, and the beginning of what Erving Goffman termed the "Total Institution", with the mindset that accompanies this - high patient-to-staff ratios and an institutional environment that contributed to the dehumanization of those that were supposed to be under care. Sometimes guinea pigs, sometimes the victims of abuse, the patients were no longer finding the respite that the word "asylum" entails. The peak of overcrowding occurred in the 1950s and 60s, right before the asylums began to empty with the advent of chlorpromazine. The name of the institution changed over the years as well; the "Bloomingdale Insane Asylum" was gone before the Kirkbride building was ever erected, and not long into the 20th century, the "State Lunatic Asylum" became Worcester State Hospital.<br />
<br />
In the early 21st century, it was proposed that the hospital again be expanded, and it was decided that most of the remaining portions of the 1877 complex - mostly destroyed by fire - would be leveled. In 2008, this task was accomplished, leaving only the Clocktower and the Hooper turret. A new building was built to continue the tradition of public mental health care in Worcester, right on top of those wards that were demolished to little public outcry. It probably would have been impossible to save the wards, given the fire damage, and the following period of abandonment; although surprisingly intact for buildings mothballed for decades, they would have needed gut renovation. Still, the Worcester Asylum represented an important chapter in the histories of both psychiatric care in America and in the progressive history of Massachusetts, an early adopter of such care. And it cannot be argued that there was not still some beauty in the wards.<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/42.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">A few months before the wrecking balls destroyed the wards of Worcester State Hospital once and for all, snow from a long winter drifted through a small hole in the ceiling of this top-floor room and accumulated in a pile through a bedframe left in the empty shell.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
Now it appears as if the Clocktower will meet the wrecking ball as well. As of early 2012, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has been working on a plan to demolish the historic structure - a symbol of mental healthcare in Worcester for 135 years - and to replace it with an empty reconstruction of just the clock tower itself. For those that value historic preservation, and the continued examination of our own national history through an examination of our historic buildings, this seems to be as hollow a compromise as the proposed monument, which will not have any internal substance.<br />
<br />
The Commonwealth appears ready to spend $7-8 million dollars to demolish the historic structure and to build <a href="http://articles.boston.com/2012-02-23/editorials/31087627_1_clock-tower-mental-illness-national-register" target="_blank">this monument</a>, whereas studies have shown that renovation of the building in order to put it back into use - as more than a hollow reminder - would only cost about five times this sum. But Massachusetts has a rather dismal record regarding the preservation of its Kirkbride buildings - the structures at Northampton and Taunton were destroyed to little fanfare (and, to all appearances, for no good reason - both spaces are still currently undeveloped) in 2007 and 2009 respectively. First to go was Danvers State Hospital in 2006; to call what was saved by developer Avalon Bay "preservation" would be disingenous.<br />
<br />
While it is never over until it's over, the Clocktower is currently surrounded by three fences, and an army of construction equipment - and it appears likely that the sun will set on this beautiful architectural treasure for the last time in the very near future.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/worcesterstatehospital/43.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">The Worcester State Hospital Clocktower at sunset, 2008.</span><br />Richard Nickel, Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15777516635980832695noreply@blogger.com162tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563849239571501746.post-84938971705545669942012-05-14T17:18:00.001-04:002012-08-13T13:02:49.621-04:00Waldo Hotel, Clarksburg, WV<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/00.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Front (Western) facade of the Waldo Hotel.</span>
<br />
<br />
The Waldo Hotel, located in the heart of Clarksburg, WV, was once among the crown jewels of the state.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/01.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Mezzanine balcony overlooking lobby.</span>
<br />
<br />
Designed in the Beaux Arts style, with elegant interior ornamentation, it was in operation for about 90 years before the boards went up.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/02.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Blue corridor with intact paint and undamaged carpet.</span>
<br />
<br />
Some parts of the hotel are still in remarkably good condition.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/03.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Upper-floor room demonstrating significant water damage.</span>
<br />
<br />
Much of the building, however, has suffered significant water damage in a short period of time, and as of February 13, 2009, the Waldo is condemned.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="color: red;">
A Brief History of the Waldo</h3>
Wealthy socialite and Virginia State Senator Waldo Goff had an estate built in Clarksburg, a city in what was to become West Virgina, in 1839; he named the Neo-Classical mansion "Waldomore". It was here that his son Nathan Goff was born; Nathan would go on to be Secretary of the Navy under Rutherford B. Hayes, as well as to serve as a U.S. Congressman. He would be the longest surviving member of the Hayes cabinet, living until 1920.<br />
<br />
After retiring from a notable political career as a member of the Republican party, Nathan Goff decided to erect a magnificent hotel in the center of his hometown, in order to increase the prestige of Clarksburg as well as to provide a social center for state Republicans. He decided to honor his father, who had passed away in 1881, and named the forthcoming structure the Waldo Hotel.<br />
<br />
The architect chosen for the project was Harrison Albright, then the State Architect for West Virginia. Known to Goff through his political affiliations, Albright was something of a risky choice for the job - skilled at municipal architecture and having some experience with more utilitarian projects in the Philadelphia area, he only had a few lavish and ornamental commissions under his belt - though his next hotel after the Waldo would be the celebrated West Baden Springs Hotel in Indiana, which featured the largest free spanning dome in the world at 200' diameter.<br />
<br />
Albright designed an elegant Beaux Arts edifice, ornamental but lacking in bombast. The focus of the interior was on a grand lobby; here, an 11-foot-wide marble staircase led up to a mezzanine level with a wraparound balcony, and a smaller matching staircase completed the journey to the second floor, which featured another wraparound balcony. Here, ornament was employed in abundance, with every detail carefully considered - from the tiled floors, to the classical gold-and-blue color scheme, to the detailed plasterwork that covered everything from the insets for electrical lighting in the ceiling to the "W" emblems spread throughout. The remainder of the first-through-second floors was a maze of kitchens, workers' areas, and various meeting rooms, as well as a ballroom. The remaining floors contained various rooms and suites, some available to the public, and some reserved for those with connections.<br />
<br />
With primary construction completed between 1901 and 1904, the hotel soon developed a reputation for luxury, and attracted the wealthy and elite from the region. As Goff had planned, it became a noted meeting place for Republican politicians and supporters, and this continued even after the deed passed to Goff's sons upon his death. Guy Goff, who lived in a suite of rooms on the fourth floor of the Waldo, attempted to run a campaign against Herbert Hoover, which was ultimately unsuccessful.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="color: red;">
The Lobby</h3>
The lobby of the Waldo Hotel is easily the most striking architectural feature of the 108-year-old building; despite some serious neglect, its beauty is still quite evident.<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/04.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">View of lobby from second-floor balcony, depicting ceiling detail and grand staircase.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/05.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">View of ceiling and balconies from ground floor.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/06.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">The 11-foot wide grand marble staircase leading to the mezzanine is now blanketed in a mouldering carpet, just as the ornate tiled floor is blanketed in plaster dust.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/07.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">The peeling paint of the mezzanine balcony reveals many years of color changes as the building was repurposed.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/08.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Turning to the right from the previous image allows an idea of the view which greeted hotel patrons mingling on the mezzanine balcony.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/09.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">View of second-floor balcony, with staircase (right) leading down to mezzanine level.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/10.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">At the corner of the second-floor balcony, the elegant plaster detailing seen throughout the lobby is evident.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/11.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">This view of the second-floor balcony shows the level of deterioration that the plasterwork is undergoing due to the ongoing neglect of the Waldo Hotel.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/12.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">A view down into the lobby from the eastern side of the second-floor balcony.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: red;">Decline and Abandonment of the Waldo</span></h3>
The heyday of Clarksburg was in the 1920s and 30s, when many prominent families had settled in the area, manufacturing in the surrounding areas was at its peak, and the city was a hotbed of political action in the State of West Virginia. But the modest empire built by the Goff family and others was beginning to crumble, and after World War 2, the census numbers stabilized and began to drop. The city fell into decline, with the population peaking in 1950, and declining in every census since then. Manufacturing was beginning to flee the area, and residency there was no longer seen as desirable by the elite of the region. Clarksburg was beginning to take on a feel familiar to cities in the Rust Belt of today, and the Waldo reflected this change.<br />
<br />
In the 1950s, the Waldo was converted from a hotel to a longer-term rooming house, and soon, it found its final use as an apartment building. Over ensuing years, as the economic downslide of Clarksburg continued, the apartments were lower-and-lower rent; because it had been designed as a European style hotel - without a separate water closet for each room - the apartments were not desirable, despite the elegance of the building. Renters who could afford it preferred their own private bathroom, and so the Waldo was being used as low-income housing by the 1970s.<br />
<br />
Towards the end of its tenure as an apartment complex, the tenants were complaining about various maintenance issues, and the deterioration of the building began, even as it was still occupied. Eventually, in 1994, the decision was made to shut the Waldo down rather than spend the money to make the repairs necessary to keep it going. Shuttered, the building began to decay more rapidly.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="color: red;">
Residential Areas of the Waldo</h3>
The third through seventh floors of the Waldo Hotel, originally hotel rooms, were converted for longer-term residential use in the 1950s. Today, these areas are in various states of decay.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/13.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">On the top floor, it is possible to see from a decayed kitchen to the side of the building as well as into an adjoining room, thanks to windows placed at a diagonal.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/14.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">A straight-on view of the same kitchen gives a sense of the level of water damage the property's owners have failed to prevent in recent years.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/15.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">While the room adjoining the above kitchen is reasonably intact, the room across the hallway - seen here from the former - is beginning to collapse, with some holes in the floor.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/16.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">A view of the hallway outside of the rooms pictured above.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/17.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">The attic on the south side of the building has only one finished room, pictured here in a long exposure - to the naked eye, this scene was nearly pitch-black.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/18.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">A seven-minute exposure illuminates the extremely dark sloped corridor immediately outside the room pictured above.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/19.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Even after the conversion to apartments, the grander rooms at the ends of the southern wing maintain some of their luxurious details - such as this tiled fireplace.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/20.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Above a similar fireplace, some pencil scratchings from May Day, 1917 are still evident.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/21.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Much of the Waldo is carpeted, and in hallways such as this, which have not been hit as hard by the neglect the building has suffered, even the paint on the walls is reasonably intact.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/22.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Many of the apartments contained cheaply installed wardrobes such as this one; this particular room also features a window looking out directly at another wall of the building.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/23.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Door into an apartment in one of the relatively undamaged portions of the Waldo.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/24.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">A blue sky above, in combination with light bouncing off of various colored reflectors, gives interesting color casts to many of the rooms now that the artificial light has been shut off.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/25.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Despite the decay, the beauty of this building is evident, particularly in undamaged areas such as this large common room.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/26.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Some original architectural details have been hidden by more recent construction; here, a lovely piece of molding is hidden behind a fake wooden panel.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/27.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">This later-period staircase was likely installed between the first and mezzanine floors in order to keep up with fire codes.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/28.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">It appears that work got underway to remove mouldering carpet at some point in this upper-floor hallway, but was never finished; piles of rolled carpet are found throughout the hall.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/29.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">After the residential floors are reached via the main staircase or the servants' stairs on the north end of the building, this central staircase connects floors 3-7.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/30.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Some of the color and design choices for the apartments are quite interesting.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/31.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">In another room which has suffered tremendous water damage due to owner neglect, the shell of a fireplace overlooks a pile of fallen plaster which is carpeted in moss and algae, which will speed the destruction of the building along.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/32.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">There is enough moisture inside the Waldo to maintain various flora, as well as fungus - here, mushrooms have taken root in damp crumbled plaster.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/33.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">While the superstructure of the Waldo is in great shape, the interior is rapidly deteriorating due to the fact that no money has been put into maintaining it. Here, water has rotted a doorframe to the point that the door was able to pull free from its hinges and fall.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/34.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">But despite the damage to some areas of the building, there are other areas which are quite intact. In these areas, it is possible to see the potential for reuse of this grand historic building.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/35.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Some rooms are so undamaged as to almost look ready for new tenants to move in.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/36.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Here, a doorway divides a two-room apartment at the end of the southern wing.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/37.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">The main structural elements in the Waldo are still useable, and with quick action, the building could be saved and repurposed.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/38.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">But despite the grandeur and beauty of this building, its current owners are making no motion to actually preserve it; it is falling prey to demolition by neglect, like so many historic buildings in America.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/39.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">If action is not taken to, at the very least, stabilize the building soon, it will likely fall prey to the wrecking ball.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/40.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">A hallway leads back to a machine room where modern ventilation machinery is in place - the building was completely renovated once, and could be renovated again. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<h3 style="color: red;">
The Present and Future of the Waldo</h3>
Abandoned since 1994, various options have been floated for the redevelopment of the Waldo Hotel. The hotel was briefly owned by the McCabe Land Co., which bought it for the stated purpose of preventing it from being demolished (as reported by <a href="http://www.abandonedonline.net/commercial/waldo-hotel/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Abandoned</a>). Since then, it has fallen into the hands of the Vandalia Heritage Foundation. Vandalia, a 501(c)3 non-profit entity, claims the motto: "Economic Revitalization through Historic Preservation". However, it is quite clear that the economics trump historic preservation with this group - there was absolutely no evidence that any serious effort had been made to fix up the property in the decade-plus the building has been owned by Vandalia.<br />
<br />
Had, at the very least, roofing repairs and mothballing occurred in 2001 when the deed was transferred, the building would be in much better shape and cost much less to restore. Now, the "preservation" group is claiming that they don't have the money to save the Waldo, despite $100K in preservation funding from the State of West Virginia and the fact that they had the ability to go in to collect scrap metal to sell. After getting nowhere towards preservation despite years of ownership, the Waldo Hotel was officially condemned on February 13, 2009. Although Vandalia was granted an extension in order to allow them to get their house in order - as it were - the only work that appears to have been done on the Waldo is the removal of further metal to sell for scrap. The building is still incredibly humid, and nothing has been done to fix the roof or to stabilize the structure.<br />
<br />
The future of the building is unclear, but things do not look good for this grand piece of the Goff legacy. Locals, tired of seeing a dilapidated eyesore, are pushing for demolition. There are no publicly posted plans which include Vandalia transferring the property to another entity with the resources and know-how to rehabilitate it. Although a site visit - and the photos taken during this visit - make it clear that the building is an ideal candidate for adaptive reuse, there don't seem to be any motions being made in this direction. Meanwhile, the water is still creeping in.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/41.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">A tiny diagonal hallway connects the southern wing of the building with the main corridor.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/42.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Significant water damage has caused most of the plaster to collapse in this apartment; still, the superstructure remains intact and the floors traversable.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/43.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">An interior room - nearly pitch black to the naked eye - demonstrates water damage to plaster, as well as various algae and molds which have grown on the damp drywall partition at left.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/waldo/44.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">The future of the Waldo Hotel is currently hidden in murky shadow.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
As always, I would like to invite any of my readers who are in the know about this building's future - or anybody who's lived here or has a personal connection - to reach out to me through my email address, or to leave a comment below.<br />
<br />Richard Nickel, Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15777516635980832695noreply@blogger.com72tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563849239571501746.post-8744980578249916532012-01-09T12:24:00.009-05:002012-01-09T16:44:08.428-05:00Trenton State Hospital, Forst Building<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/00.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">View into patient room and down corridor during civil twilight.</span><br /><br /><br />Trenton State Hospital - currently known as Trenton Psychiatric Hospital, and formerly the New Jersey State Lunatic Asylum - is one of the most historically significant asylum campuses in America. The first asylum constructed according to the Kirkbride Plan, it was also the first erected due to the advocacy of Dorothea Dix. The main building was designed by John Notman, and completed in 1848. In the mid-1960s, the grand administrative section was demolished, and replaced with the utilitarian modern structure known as the Stratton Building.<br /><br />A good ways to the southeast of the main building, past a disused swimming pool and baseball diamond, two large buildings stand next to a cluster of smaller cottages. The Marquand Building is still fully operational, although disconnected from the services of the physical plant far to the northwest; this building administers the cluster of active cottages nearby. The larger Forst building, a three-story building next to Marquand, has been abandoned for decades, and it is something of an enigma - with little reliable information readily available, the only clues we have as to its history are those we can read into site visits and photographs created during site visits.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/01.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Large patient bedroom during nautical twilight.</span><br /><br /><br />Whereas most of the buildings featured on this blog have well documented histories that can be confirmed through multiple primary and secondary sources, there is almost no information readily available on the Forst Building, save what can be learned from analyzing the structure itself. The only references to the structure online are documents pointing to plans by the State of New Jersey to demolish it in the near future. Annual reports from the asylum from the end of the 19th and first decade of the 20th centuries make no reference to this building, nor does the overview report of the State Hospital system from 1965. A 1913 annual report mentions the construction of a nurses' home somewhat removed from the campus - but this could equally refer to Forst, Marquand, or a number of other structures extant and demolished.<br /><br />From architectural clues - the layout of the Forst Building, the methods and materials employed in its construction, and the mix of utilitarian design with a few architectural flourishes - a few things can be inferred, though they cannot be assumed without further evidence. The building was likely constructed some time between the 1920s and 1940. The unsecured and intact windows, of clear and even glass, help confirm that it is not much older, as well as giving clues towards its purpose - it's very possible that it was originally a staff housing building, and if not, it certainly wasn't a secure ward - it may have been a minimum-security ward for convalescent patients. In the central wing on each floor, there is a large room with an unadorned brick fireplace. This works with either theory - these could have been the common areas shared by nurses or orderlies living in the building; alternately, they could have been lounges for staff on break, or dayrooms for patients, although the large rooms at either end of each floor seem more suited to the latter purpose.<br /><br />Artifact clues paint a clearer picture of more recent uses of the structure, and give a ballpark timeline for its abandonment. On the first floor, there are piles of literature concerned with addiction and recovery - suggesting that the final use of the building was as an inpatient rehab facility. Indeed, the layout of the structure itself would have lent itself quite well to this purpose. Most artifact evidence points to abandonment in stages; while the southern wing of the building is nearly devoid of objects in situ, the central wing still contains beds, furniture, and a small scattering of patient belongings, and the northern wing is basically cluttered with things left behind, suggesting it was the last section of the building to be vacated. The majority of items left on the top two floors suggest an abandonment date in the mid-late 1970s, with the exception of a newpaper from the early 1980s - this could, of course, have been left by an interloper. Evidence on the first floor, including office machinery and paperwork, points to its use into the early 80s - it's possible that the first floor was still in use after the top two were vacated.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/02.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The central hallway connecting the three wings of the building, showing extensive roof damage, taken during civil twilight.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/03.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A closer look at the roof damage, taken mid-day five years earlier.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/04.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The top landing of the staircase in the northern wing during civil twilight.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/05.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Top-floor hallway junction highlighting water damage to roof.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/06.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The top-floor lounge area in the central wing, with a simple brick fireplace topped by a somewhat ornate wooden mantle.</span><br /><br /><br />The northern wing of the structure is littered with artifacts ranging from patient clothes to half-full jars of barbecue sauce, cleaning products, books, and other assorted things that were not removed by patients when the building was abandoned.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/07.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A typical room on the top floor of the northern wing of the building; a dresser has been emptied out, and various objects have been left amidst the fallen plaster.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/08.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Under a table, a toothbrush and small plastic bottle sit among plaster and paint chips.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/09.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The artifacts found throughout the northern wing are quite varied in type - here, a seashell sits next to a can of hairspray and a pair of denim jeans on a mouldering carpet.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/10.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A well-preserved lampshade hangs precariously off the edge of a utilitarian table.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/11.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A pair of Nike shoes - apparently predating their iconic "swoop" logo - sits on a table next to a patient bed.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/12.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Several closets still contain clothing, among other belongings - here, a pair of pants remains folded over a rusting hanger.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/13.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A pair of refrigerators - which still have containers of various food items inside - sit inside a room that was presumably a communal kitchen, although no stove or sink was present.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/14.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A crutch still leans against the wall next to a bed.</span><br /><br /><br />Many of the patient rooms in the central wing still contain beds and furniture, and in the northern wing, many still contain belongings. This suggests relatively rapid abandonment, and the fact that apparently useable beds, refrigerators, and other furniture and appliances were not removed for use in other buildings or state facilities helps to confirm this.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/15.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Sunrise streaming across door into patient bedroom in central wing of the top floor.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/16.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Each room had a metal tag with its numeric designation stamped into it - the fact that metal tags were used, as well as the layers of paint which made it onto the tags, suggest that they were either an original feature of the building or an early addition.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/17.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The patient in room 1 was likely a devout Christian. Or a devoted Elvis fan.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/18.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A passive-aggressive note was left on the door to room 2 by the housekeeping department, and later added onto by the fire department. Five years later, the note was gone.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/19.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A typical patient bedroom, with two blacklight posters still attached to the wall. By five years later, the blue poster had been removed, and the artifacts in the room rearranged, likely by a photographer looking to create an interesting (but artificial) scene.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/20.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A damaged feather pillow - a stark contrast to the cheap synthetic or horsehair pillows found at most asylums. This pillow was later placed in the room with the blacklight posters, probably as part of an arranged photograph.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/21.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">This bedframe still had a shipping tag from the manufacturer attached. As the tag refers to the facility as "State Hospital" and not "Psychiatric Hospital", it predates 1972.</span><br /><br /><br />The southern wing of the building is nearly bereft of artifacts; none of the rooms contain beds, and only a few objects of any sort remain. This suggests that this was the first ward vacated while the building was being closed down.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/22.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Hallway in the southern wing of the building, with view into a room containing one of the few remaining artifacts - a medical work desk.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/23.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A typical empty room on the top floor of the southern wing. Although evidence points to it being the first ward abandoned, it is also has the most intact roofs.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/24.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Another southern-wing room, demonstrating the colors from the overgrown windows and reflection from the bricks of the building cast upon the plaster wall.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/25.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Second-floor hallway in the southern wing. The unsecured transoms above the doors provide further evidence that this building was never a medium- or maximum-security ward.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/26.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The chair beside this tub is clearly marked so that it was not removed to a patient's room or common area.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/27.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">This top-floor southern-wing bathroom has suffered significant water damage, and has created an environment conducive to the invasion of climbing vines.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/28.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The second-floor landing of the heavily decayed southern staircase; vines have climbed in through a window on the switchback landing and made their way down the stairs.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/29.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The first floor features a hallway with various psychedelic paint designs on the walls; here, the paint has mostly covered an old hand-painted guide pointing towards the fallout shelter.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/30.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A wooden chair in one of the hallways; this was almost certainly placed here by another photographer to create an artificial scene - note the fallen plaster upon the chair, and the lack of similar plaster surrounding it.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/31.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">This first floor classroom contained a small number of desks, as well as some literature on drug rehabilitation - it could have functioned as a meeting place for Narcotics Anonymous meetings.</span><br /><br /><br />There's only so much that can be learned from site visits without actual documentation - and so, my readers, I call upon you to please <a href="mailto:kingston.lounge@gmail.com">email me</a> with any information, anecdotes, suggestions for sources, etc, so that I can firm up the history of this unique and interesting building which still resonates with the feel of the Age of Aquarius.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/forst/32.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The now-missing "Afro Love" poster that once adorned a patient's bedroom. This poster was printed in 1974, and thus it can be inferred that this building was vacated no earlier than this year.</span>Richard Nickel, Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15777516635980832695noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563849239571501746.post-47267590355323143642011-09-16T11:46:00.010-04:002011-09-16T13:22:42.794-04:00Convent of St. Mary, Abbey and Chapel, Peekskill, NY<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csm/01.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The 1876 Abbey of the Community of St. Mary, shot by moonlight.</span><br /><br />For over a century, the Convent at Mount St. Gabriel, a picturesque plot of land in the highlands of Peekskill, NY, was home to the Community of St. Mary. From its humble beginnings in 1872 in a clapboard farmhouse, the Convent soon grew into a multi-building complex with a full church, a school, and ample housing for both the Sisters and their charges. By 2003, when the convent moved to Greenwich, NY, the school had already been repurposed, but the Abbey proper, as well as the Chapel, remained vacant, as they have to this day.<br /><br />Based on a Benedictine model, the Community of St. Mary adheres to a simple monastic life centered around prayer, reflection, and service. From tumultuous beginnings, including an uphill battle against the established positions of the Church on monastic orders in general, the CSM eventually flourished after being widely recognized for the selfless acts of its Sisters in service to the community. It is the oldest indigenous Anglican order in the New World, and the first monastic body constituted by the Episcopal Church since the dissolution of monasteries in the 16th century.<br /><br />While the forms of service practiced by the nuns of the order have varied over the years and regions, at this particular complex, the running of a school and the manufacture of communion wafers were a primary focus. In 1977, as a result of declining enrollment, the Episcopal church closed the school, and the parcel of land containing it was sold off to a private developer; in the early 1980s, the 1911 building was converted to luxury condominiums. The Chaplain's House on the grounds is now the private residence of a local doctor, and has been gut renovated.<br /><br />But since the CSM moved to a larger property in Greenwich, New York, in 2003, little has been done to the 1876 Abbey and 1896 Chapel buildings. The interiors of each are, for the most part, gutted; work was begun on the buildings, but never completed, due to the subprime mortgage collapse. Some significant interior architectural features have been left intact, but the majority of the structures have been stripped down to their frames. The properties are owned by Ginsburg Development, and their website indicates that they will be developed as "The Abbey at Fort Hill", a 12-unit luxury condo complex. This would be to the benefit of the town of Peekskill, which sorely needs the tax revenue, but also to the benefit of the Community of St. Mary - as part of the proposed development, Ginsburg would relocate the cemetery to the Greenwich location, bringing the founding Sisters to the modern convent.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csm/02.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The majority of the Abbey was gutted in between 2003, when the property was vacated, and the subprime mortgage collapse of 2008.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csm/03.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Untouched so far, the chapel on the second floor of the Abbey is remarkably intact.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csm/04.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">During the heyday of the Convent, this chapel was primarily used to provide services for ailing nuns, who were housed on the second floor of the building.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csm/05.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">As membership in the Convent and its school declined, the small chapel was used for most services, and the large 1896 Chapel building was only used for special functions.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csm/06.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The ornate hand-painted walls were finished prior to the start of the First World War, and are holding up remarkably well.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csm/07.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Very few interior architectural details remain, but apparently the developers feel that the original wooden staircases will fit with their luxury condo designs.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csm/08.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A view through one of the dormer windows on the third floor, looking towards the Chapel building.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csm/09.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">An ornate spiral staircase leads from the first to the third floors.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csm/10.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">This mechanism, with an array of gears and dangling weights, led up into what was possibly a bell tower.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csm/11.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">View of the grounds at sundown. To the left is the Abbey, and to the right is the Chapel.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csm/12.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A dusk view of the 1896 Chapel, which was constructed of locally quarried stone - during this time period, labor was cheap, and materials expensive.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csm/13.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A font on the outside of the chapel; the inscription translates (roughly) as "Lydia: rest thou well and pray for us".</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csm/14.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The bell tower on the Chapel building.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csm/15.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A view to the road leading away from the Convent.</span><br /><br />For more images of the Convent, check out <a href="http://www.amyheiden.com/blog/category/st-marys-convent" target="_blank">Amy Heiden Photography</a>.Richard Nickel, Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15777516635980832695noreply@blogger.com70tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563849239571501746.post-79702224592811456212011-02-06T03:44:00.005-05:002011-02-06T04:36:23.287-05:00The Divine Lorraine Hotel, Philadelphia, PA<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/00.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Ballroom in 2006, in the midst of being gutted; the marble floor was in the process of being pulled up.</span><br /><br /><br />Personal note: I feel compelled by recent reports of the deteriorating conditions at The Divine Lorraine to write this article, which I may only accompany by some photos taken in the span of a couple of hours in 2006. The Lorraine is NRHP listed for both its architectural import and its significance in civil rights as the first integrated hotel in Philadelphia. It is currently in significant danger of demolition-by-neglect. Because the building is now gutted and deteriorating, I cannot reshoot the photographic content for this article, so I must present what I have, warts and all.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/01.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">View of building from tiny porch attached to bedroom.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Not-So-Humble Beginnings</span></span><br /><br />The building currently known as the Divine Lorraine Hotel has been a fixture on North Broad Street in Philadelphia for over a century. It was designed, as the “Lorraine Apartments”, by controversial architect Willis G. Hale in his characteristically theatrical high-Victorian style. Construction began in 1892 and took two years to finish. At the time, the building was praised by few – Hale’s style was seen as outdated, being typified by extravagant ornamentation, and many viewed the Lorraine as bombastic.<br /><br />Nevertheless, it was a very luxurious building, and among the first high-rise apartment buildings in Philadelphia. Offering an in-house staff that eliminated the need for personal servants, a central kitchen in which meals were prepared for tenants, and two luxurious ballrooms for events, the Lorraine briefly attracted the upper crust of city renters. In 1900, it was purchased by a new interest which converted it into a hotel. It continued to attract a wealthy clientele until its sale in 1948 to Father Divine, who anticipated a very different use for the structure.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/02.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A typical hallway in the Lorraine.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/03.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Typical bedrooms in the Lorraine contained features such as this small fireplace.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/04.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">One of the few beds remaining when the building was photographed.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/05.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Most of the artifacts that had been left in the Lorraine were moved down to first floor and affixed with price tags; apparently, these books weren't worth the hassle.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/06.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The most common artifact found in the hotel: a copy of the Bible.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/07.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The only television seen in the entire structure; Father Divine was said to have frowned on the viewing of TV.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/08.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A bathtub was pulled halfway out of this crumbling bathroom.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/09.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A room on the Ninth Floor. This is supposed to have been the room in which Father Divine's wife lived; even the head of the movement was not exempted from the rules prohibiting cohabitation.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/10.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A view from one room into the room across the hall. The rooms were painted in a variety of pastel colors.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Introduction of the Divine</span></span><br /><br />George Baker was born, likely in Maryland, to two former slaves. From humble beginnings as a gardener and itinerant Baptist preacher, he came to envision himself first as a divine messenger, and eventually as a deity himself. He granted himself the title of Reverend Major Jealous Divine, and became known to his rapidly growing congregations as Father Divine. In his early years, his preachings focused primarily on the virtues of celibacy and the downplaying of gender roles.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/11.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The front of the tenth-floor chapel, originally one of two ballrooms in the Lorraine Apartments.</span><br /><br /><br />Father Divine and his congregation moved frequently in the early years, and eventually settled in New York. Several times, he ran afoul of the law, and he moved around the city, and outside the city. Meanwhile, his message shifted towards civil rights. Unlike many black preachers of the day, he was not polarized against whites – Father Divine’s message centered around equality, and he focused on desegregation, anti-lynching legislation, and similar issues. He formalized his movement into a church, the International Peace Mission Movement.<br /><br />In 1942, Divine’s legal troubles caused him to flee New York; he ended up in Philadelphia. In 1944, Johnny Mercer attended a sermon entitled “You got to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative.” Mercer wrote his trademark song the following year. Meanwhile, Divine decided to open up a number of residences for his flock, which he referred to as Heavens. In 1948, he purchased the Lorraine Hotel for $485,000, reopening it as a Heaven under its new, and final, name: The Divine Lorraine.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/12.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A Bible lays open to the book of Job on a dresser; this would almost seem a fitting metaphor for the building itself, were it not so likely that someone had intentionally left it like that.</span><br /><br />Because of his focus on celibacy, even within marriage, Divine divided the structure by floors; men and women would not share a floor. Modesty was expected of the residents; women had to wear long skirts, and men, long pants. Alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes were forbidden, as was swearing, mixing of the sexes outside of meals and church functions, and any form of blasphemy.<br /><br />The clientele of the Lorraine changed drastically; congregants were simply given rooms to live in, as they were expected to have already turned over their savings to Divine. Additional rooms were available to rent, but the prices were low, and the Lorraine no longer attracted the upper-class residents that once called it home. The hotel was fully integrated, with no preference for race, and religious belief outside the movement was accepted so long as it did not contradict the teachings of Father Divine. A soup kitchen was operated out of the first floor of the building, providing hot meals to the indigent of the neighborhood.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/13.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">When Father Divine took over the Lorraine, this statuette was affixed to the front. If any readers know who the statue portrays, please let me know.</span><br /><br /><br />Father Divine passed away at his estate in Gladwyne, PA, in 1965. His second wife, Edna Rose Ritchings, who was significantly younger than he, took over leadership of the movement. The congregation continued to operate the Divine Lorraine. In the early 70s, cult leader Jim Jones split off from the International Peace Mission Movement, forming the Peoples Temple – the group which would eventually commit mass suicide in Jonestown. Eventually, the movement began to dwindle – Father Divine’s teachings forbade sex, and the movement stopped attracting new members – and most of the Heavens had to be sold. In 2000, the congregation parted with the Divine Lorraine Hotel.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/14.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A wide view of the chapel just after first light.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/15.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Detail of the proscenium over the tiny stage from which Father Divine gave his sermons.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/16.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The rear of the chapel.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/17.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Detail of the "God" inlay at the rear of the chapel.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Sale, Gutting, and Neglect</span></span><br /><br />David Peace, an adherent to the International Peace Mission Movement, continued to reside in the building from 2000 until 2006, maintaining it to the best of his abilities. This proved relatively easy to do – because in a rare turn for an economically beleaguered neighborhood, area dealers and squatters had so much respect for the legacy of Father Divine that there were few attempts to trespass in, or vandalize, the structure.<br /><br />The Divine Lorraine was listed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 2002. In May 2006, Philadelphia developer Michael Treacy, Jr. purchased the building and formed a development team to oversee its use. He promised that the building would be rehabilitated as a mixed-use property, consisting of 135 condominiums and a large-scale restaurant, and that the historical integrity of the landmark would be preserved.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/18.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Most of the furniture and other artifacts from the Lorraine were gathered on the first floor and affixed with prices, ready for a rummage sale.</span><br /><br /><br />For a few months, little happened, and then work crews began to show up at the building. But they were not there to rehab – little by little, they began to tear the building apart, selling off pieces to architectural salvage companies and interested individuals. Marble floors were removed from the ballroom and chapel; wooden floors were torn up and bundled, bathtubs were gathered in hallways. Even the ornate plasterwork was torn apart. And after the building was thoroughly scavenged, it was completely abandoned, without any significant measure being taken even to shore up the roofs.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/19.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A plywood walkway was constructed at the rear entrance to facilitate moving demolition equipment in and out - as well as objects being sold, such as the kitchen equipment lined up to the left.</span><br /><br /><br />As it turns out, the developer had no intention of rehabilitating and preserving the Lorraine unless the city and neighborhood bowed to a number of concessions, including fiscal benefits, additional land acquisition, and favorable zoning. When the developer did not receive the requested concessions, he gutted the building, sold what he could for salvage, and left the structure to rot. David Peace no longer watches over it, and having gutted, it is no longer treated with the reverence it once was. It has become a home to squatters and members of the drug community, and has been heavily vandalized; its exterior is now covered in graffiti. Water damage too has quickly become an issue. Less than half a decade’s worth of neglect has reduced the Divine Lorraine to an endangered shell.<br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/20.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The grand stairwell from the first to the second floors was sheathed in plywood; recent photographs indicated that the stairs themselves were torn apart for the marble, and only an iron skeleton remains.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/21.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">When I visited the Lorraine in 2006, salvage was well underway. In this hallway, the hardwood floor has been torn up and bundled for sale.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/22.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">In this room, the tub was pulled from the bathroom, and the marble tiles were then ripped out and placed against the wall. The doors have also been removed.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/23.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A room in which the hardwood floor has already been scavenged; it appears that the door is next.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/24.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The door here has been removed, as well as the brass hinge. Even the screws from the switch-plate were taken.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/25.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Throughout the lower floors of the building, various like objects were grouped together by kind, presumably to facilitate sale. Here, doors are stacked against each other in rows.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/26.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Dozens of radiators filled another room.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/27.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The bathtubs were removed from this floor's bathrooms and lined up in the hallway.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/28.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Even the mattresses, unused in over half a decade, were priced to sell.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">As a Closing Note</span></span><br /><br />It is unacceptable that this building, a national as well as a local landmark, is falling prey to demolition-by-neglect. While the figure of Father Divine and the nature of his movement may be controversial, it is uncontroversial that he was an important precursor to the civil rights struggle, and that the Divine Lorraine had a significant role in this history, both by association and by virtue of its status as the first integrated hotel in Philadelphia. Further, it is a remarkable building, and one of the few Hale commissions still standing. The avarice of a developer who gutted the building, “taking her for all she was worth”, and then walked away, should not be allowed to cause the eventual destruction of this treasure.<br /><br />I would urge all of my readers in Philadelphia to get involved on some level with the preservation of this structure. And I would urge all of my readers outside of Philadelphia to spread the word. If there is enough public outcry over this, if the right people are appropriately shamed, perhaps the Divine Lorraine stands a chance of being a jewel of Philadelphia once again. <br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/lorraine/29.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">This tiny cross placed upon a lightswitch had managed to endure.</span>Richard Nickel, Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15777516635980832695noreply@blogger.com102tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563849239571501746.post-84191898847495064862011-01-13T20:45:00.023-05:002017-12-06T17:56:01.164-05:00North Brother Island - Riverside Hospital<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/00.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The overgrown main road running north-south through the island; to the right are the nurses' residence and doctors' cottage, and to the left, the maintenance building and tennis courts. <span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-cRjPfnV" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b></span></span><br />
<b><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></b>
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>NEW:</b></span> </span> Many people have asked for prints from North Brother Island over the years, but I've been reticent to put together a comprehensive prints list because making individual prints is so time consuming. But I have just <a href="http://goo.gl/8g4zm" target="_blank">set up a gallery on my SmugMug page</a> that has over 100 images available - including about 50 that didn't make it into this blog post for space reasons or because they were taken after publication. So if you're interested in owning an image from this series - or just want to see the photographs that didn't make it in here - <a href="http://goo.gl/8g4zm" target="_blank">browse on over and have a look</a>!<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 180%;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">A Brief Introduction</span></span><br />
<br />
Of all the forgotten and mysterious places in the Five Boroughs of New York City, few have histories as rich and interesting as that of North Brother Island. Situated in the Hell Gate, a particularly treacherous stretch of the East River, North Brother was home to the quarantine hospital that housed Typhoid Mary, was the final destination of the General Slocum during its tragic final voyage, and was the site of an experimental drug treatment program which failed due to corruption. Riverside Hospital, the name of the facility on the island throughout its various incarnations, treated everything from smallpox and leprosy to venereal disease and heroin addiction; after the Second World War, it housed soldiers who were studying under the GI bill. The entirety of the island has been abandoned since 1963; over a dozen buildings remain, in various states of disrepair.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/01.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The gantry crane at the ferry slip which would transport patients and staff to its sister slip in Port Morris. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-8bhbbkQ" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
North Brother Island remains off-limits to the public due to its designation as a protected nesting area, and it is home to a rare colony of black-crowned night herons. As such, it remains an inscrutable mystery to most New Yorkers, even though it is closer to the Empire State Building than most of Brooklyn. Derelict for nearly half a century, it provides fascinating glimpses into demolition by neglect, into the architecture of quarantine, and into the collective history of the islands of the outer boroughs; like <a href="http://kingstonlounge.blogspot.com/2008/08/hart-island.html" target="_blank">Hart Island</a> to the northeast, and Blackwell’s Island to the southwest, North Brother was used as a dumping ground for indigent New Yorkers stricken with social disease. Here is a look at the island in its present condition, as well as a brief overview of its history.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 180%;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">The Western Buildings</span></span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/M1.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">An access road leads between the morgue to the right, and the physical plant and coal house to the left. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-VPKK9HZ" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
The situation of the building which housed the morgue and pathology labs right beside the ferry dock at first seems a little strange – why would the island’s planners put a building symbolic of death near the entry point of a place where the hope was recovery and convalescence? The answer lies in the fact that this building was originally the island’s chapel – explaining the gothic-arched windows inlaid with stained glass, as well as its odd location. When the island’s population expanded, a new wooden chapel was built to the south; the old chapel was repurposed. This proved convenient during outbreaks as well; bodies could be removed to the potter's field on <a href="http://kingstonlounge.blogspot.com/2008/08/hart-island.html" target="_blank">Hart Island</a> or to other cemeteries with relative haste after autopsy.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/M2.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The refrigeration room in the morgue. Individual cabinets for corpses were not used in this morgue. Mary Mallon - widely known as Typhoid Mary - worked in the pathology lab in the same building during her second confinement on the island. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-7DPzqxD" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/M3.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The exam table in the morgue. Note that this was not the autopsy table, which would have been a single-piece lipped table with sluices for the blood to drain. Sadly, this artifact was removed from the island in late 2008. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-pbfpnHR" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/M4.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Lightning struck the larger smokestack in the 1990s, obliterating several feet of heavy bricks. Here, a number of these bricks have destroyed the roof of the morgue/pathology building. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-3nwksD2" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/M5.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">A view of the physical plant (left) and coal house (right) from the roof of the morgue. In the distance, the maintenance building and the top of the nurses' residence are visible. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-jj76cqs" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
North Brother Island was remarkably self-sufficient; while it required that food and water be brought in, the former by ferry and the latter by pipeline, it was able to provide steam, electricity, and eventually, an internal telephone system and electrical fire alarm system. The physical plant contained all of the necessary machinery to power the island via coal, which was stored in a large building to the south of the plant. A separate ferry dock was built specifically for the quick importation of coal to the island.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/P1.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The interior of the coal house, facing east. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-FkgtrzT" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/P2.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">A 1,000 lb scale in between the coal house and physical plant, presumably used to weigh coal. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-Vhs9L26" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/P3.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The main building of the physical plant in winter. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-dwfmpnB" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/P4.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">A west-facing view of the interior of the physical plant; at the end are the southernmost boilers. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-x67KztB" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/P5.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The northernmost boilers, two stories tall. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-vC5gWNP" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 180%;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">For Quarantine Alone</span></span><br />
<br />
Island quarantine hospitals were a fairly common phenomenon in the 19th century through the middle of the 20th, and on the tip of Long Island, the US Government’s only quarantine facility for animal disease is still in operation on Plum Island. This usage makes sense – access to and from the island could be controlled, escape would be difficult, and it was correctly thought that the sources of contagion would not naturally pass over a body of water. Blackwell’s Island, later Welfare Island and now Roosevelt Island, housed a quarantine hospital known as Riverside, as well as the municipal insane asylum and other city facilities. Riverside Hospital, a smallpox hospital still partially extant and known as the Renwick Ruins after its architect, was overcrowded by the 1870s, and so a plan was put in place to build a new island hospital specifically for the quarantine of contagious disease.<br />
<br />
Contrary to a persistent urban legend involving a Catholic orphanage or nunnery, North Brother Island was almost completely undeveloped when work began on it in the 1880s. The only structure present on the island when work began was a small shack. In 1885, the first patients were received at the second incarnation of Riverside Hospital. Various pavilions and tents were hastily constructed to segregate different diseases; smallpox, scarlet fever, tuberculosis, typhoid, diptheria, and even leprosy were demarcated on the island. The architecture was bland and utilitarian, and the treatment methodologies were primitive, but for the time being, the overcrowding on Blackwell’s Island was no longer an issue.<br />
<br />
Other issues soon arose, however. It was difficult to find physicians willing to work shifts on the island, and at various times, the island might have been entirely without a true doctor – nurses would have to make do with what knowledge they had. Conditions on the island were rather dreadful. The early incarnation of the physical plant was not powerful enough to counter a bad winter, and thus the heat was rationed out; consequentially, death rates rose dramatically in the colder months. At various times, when weather did not permit the ferries to run, there were food shortages.<br />
<br />
These issues, of course, were nonissues for the well-to-do, who could afford private care and thus would never set foot on the island. The indigent and immigrant populations, however, developed a healthy – but counterproductive – fear of the island. Because few came back from North Brother, and those that did told of deplorable conditions, many hid the fact that they were ill, and thus continued to act as vectors (infecting agents) for various contagions. Robert Martin, a merchant treated on the island, remarked that “the experience while there can be compared to the Black Hole of Calcutta” – this only 16 years after the facility opened. Thus, in 1902, the city began a campaign to change both the operation and the image of North Brother. Visitations were allowed, within reason, whereas previously they had been forbidden. Concrete and masonry pavilions replaced shoddy wooden buildings and tents. Doctors were available now at all times, and the nursing staff was bolstered. A telephone system was put into place, and connected with the City telephone system, allowing patients to have contact with relatives. Although the fear of the island was not eradicated, it was somewhat abated by these measures.<br />
<br />
By 1914, the island primarily functioned to treat tuberculosis and venereal diseases. Smallpox had been eradicated in the United States by the late 1890s, and most other contagious diseases were treatable to the point that they could be handled by hospitals within the Boroughs. Tuberculosis, however, was still not well understood, and a great deal of stigma was attached to the illness. Thus, Riverside would be one of several island facilities in New York to treat the disease from the safe position of quarantine. Seaview Hospital on Staten Island, and buildings on Swinburne and Hoffman islands, would also provide quarantine facilities for the City. Treatment of tuberculosis would be the primary goal of North Brother Island between 1915 and its first closure in 1942.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 180%;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Doctors' Cottage & Nurses' Residence</span></span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/D1.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The western facade of the doctors' cottage, the interior of which is largely collapsed. The utilitarian municipal architecture has some nice flourishes, such as the third-floor dormers and romanesque entryway. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-f9qCGc6" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/D2.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Second floor of the doctors' cottage, looking south into the collapsed western wing of the building. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-VWFvxVj" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/D3.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">A remarkably undisturbed room on the third floor of the southern wing of the building. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-3KDmZ5k" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/D4.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Although the wall of this bathroom floor has fallen away, the tub is still securely in place. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-8dh8Bbw" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/05.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The pathway in between the doctors' cottage to the left, and the nurses' residence to the right.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/N1.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The nurses' residence after a snowfall. Construction on this building was finished around 1904. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-2GXSrgb" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/N2.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Main stairwell inside the western (middle) wing of the U-shaped nurses' building. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-FThfXmW" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/N3.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">A typical two-room dorm inside the nurses' residence. One half provided sleeping quarters for 1 or 2 nurses, and the other half was a lounge area, with a private sink. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-vkBDQ93" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/N4.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">A sink and shelving unit which was a standard fixture in each quarters. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-fdnnmc8" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/N5.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Each quarters has a knocker with a nameplate and room designation. This is room 212 in the north wing. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-BtS4wsD" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/N6.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The courtyard in the middle of the residence, with a wraparound porch. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-tHZcNP2" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/N7.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">An iron spiral staircase on the eastern tip of the southern wing. This room was originally a screened-in porch. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-Ptx9gmD" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/N8.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">A raptor found dessicated in one of the dormitories. North Brother Island has few food sources for land animals, but maintains a diverse population of birds. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-VstnRS4" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/N9.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The fourth-floor south hallway has suffered significant water damage, and will soon be impassible. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-63C9rSM" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/N10.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">A room at the western tip of the southern wing contains an exam table. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-HBMFS6S" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/N11.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The fourth floor landing of the southern staircase. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-58r8zkL" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/N12.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The southern facade of the building is completely covered in climbing vines such as kudzu. This invasive species, not native to the area, is threatening the trees and the heron population, as well as impacting the structural stability of the buildings. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-tMGm4Qg" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/07.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">A tennis court, across the road from the nurses' residence, dates back at least to the 1920s. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-qrWKGT9" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 180%;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">The General Slocum</span></span><br />
<br />
In 1904, in one of the most catastrophic maritime events in US history, the PS General Slocum, a steamer built just over a decade previous, caught fire in the East River, eventually beaching on North Brother Island. Over a thousand people lost their lives in the disaster, which had a number of disparate causes.<br />
<br />
The General Slocum was a passenger transport, and on June 14, 1904, it had been chartered by a church group consisting primarily of women and children for a picnic trip to Long Island. Shortly after disembarking, a fire broke out in one of the machine rooms. A young boy attempted to warn the ship’s crew, but he was ignored. It was fully 10 minutes after the fire started that the captain became aware of it. Instead of beaching the ship immediately, the captain continued on course, straight into the headwinds which were fanning the flames. The ship went up like tinder.<br />
<br />
Poor maintenance on board the ship left it without any effective firefighting measures, and the manufacturer of the life preservers had cut costs, rendering them effectively useless – there are reports of mothers strapping their children in and tossing them into the water, only to watch in horror as the jackets bore the children under. The captain eventually beached the ship on North Brother Island; by this point, over 80% of the passengers and crew had died by fire or by drowning. The captain himself jumped ship and got on to the first available lifeboat; he was eventually convicted of criminal negligence and spent 3 years in Sing Sing. For hours after the tragedy, bodies continued to wash up on the shore of North Brother Island, and a number of photographs exist of the beach strewn with victims.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 180%;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">"Typhoid" Mary Mallon</span></span><br />
<br />
The notion of a healthy carrier – a person who acts as a vector for a disease whilst remaining entirely or predominantly asymptomatic – is commonplace in the world of modern medicine. This was not the case a century ago, however, and this perhaps explains the strange and tragic case of Mary Mallon, known the world over as Typhoid Mary. An Irish immigrant who was likely a lifelong carrier of typhoid - her mother had suffered from the disease during the pregnancy - Mary herself never exhibited symptoms. And it was only by chance – and by the clever deductions of physician George Soper – that she was identified as a carrier, the first known case in history. Her own refusal to acknowledge this fact led to two involuntary stays on North Brother Island; the first would last from 1907 to 1910, and the second would last from 1915 until her death in 1938.<br />
<br />
Mary was a cook by trade; she worked for a number of families in New York and out on Long Island. Several of these families were mysteriously stricken with typhoid fever over the seven year period she was active, between 1900 and 1907. Soper realized that a previously unknown factor could be at work – Mary could be spreading the bacteria without falling ill herself. When she was approached with this possibility, Mary grew defensive and angry; from her point of view, it didn’t make sense that she could spread the contagion yet not be sick herself.<br />
<br />
In 1907, Soper published his research nonetheless, and Mary was seized by the city police and exiled to North Brother Island. Still convinced that she could not possibly be transmitting the disease, she fought for three years to be allowed back to the mainland. Finally, in 1910, she agreed to a proposal by the New York City Health Department that she would not work as a cook, and that she would take all possible hygienic measures to ensure no further cases could be attributed to her. She was allowed to depart North Brother in February of that year.<br />
<br />
But she remained unconvinced that she was a vector for the bacterium, and continued her generally unhygienic practices. When she found her salary as a laundress to be significantly lower than what she had made as a cook, she took the pseudonym Mary Brown and began working as a cook in a hospital. Due to her generally poor sanitary habits, she quickly caused another outbreak at the hospital, which infected two dozen people, killing one. City health officials quickly tracked her down, and she was returned to North Brother, this time for the remainder of her life – over two decades on 20 acres of land. She had her own cottage, and eventually began socializing in the Nurses’ Residence and working in the pathology lab (both pictured above). In 1938, Mary died of a stroke. Her cottage was bulldozed, being cluttered and unsanitary to the point that people were afraid to enter the structure. Live typhoid cultures were found during her autopsy.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 180%;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Auxiliary Buildings</span></span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/O1.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">A former childrens' ward was converted to a library when Riverside became a rehabilitation hospital. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-8qxrZZS" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/O2.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The maintenance building contains general odds and ends; here, some keys sit next to a chemical stalagmite. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-qDqpvQn" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/O3.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">An old phonebook in the maintenance building is still relatively intact. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-TGBrfwq" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/O4.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Before abandonment of the island, the altarpiece from the chapel was removed to the maintenance building, where it still sits on a table. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-B5NNXPk" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/O5.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The second chapel, made of wood, has almost completely collapsed; all that remains standing is the wall and entryway to the west. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-GXj57Hn" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/09.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">A great deal of infrastructure remains on the island. Lampposts, telephone poles, manholes, roads with curbs, and so on all exist, although most are buried in bushes or covered in vines. Here, a fire hydrant is relatively undisturbed. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-dsr2JSJ" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 180%;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Riverside Repurposed</span></span><br />
<br />
Riverside Hospital stopped functioning as a quarantine hospital in 1942. It was, for a short time, abandoned, before finding a brief use as housing for World War Two veterans studying at New York colleges. It was serviced by two ferries that would regularly stop at the western slip, but this use proved inefficient and expensive, and when cheaper housing was obtained, the island was once again abandoned. In 1952, it would reopen under the final incarnation of Riverside Hospital – as an experimental juvenile drug treatment facility offered as an alternative to incarceration.<br />
<br />
It is interesting to note that the tuberculosis pavilion, built in 1941, was never in fact used to treat tubercular patients. The island was abandoned, and all patients suffering from this disease were moved to alternate municipal facilities. The TB hospital found its first use as a dormitory, and then became the main residence and treatment building for Riverside Hospital’s drug treatment program. The doors to many of the rooms were retrofitted into seclusion rooms with sheet metal reinforcement and heavy deadbolts; these rooms are iconic in discussing the failed experiment in drug treatment undertaken on North Brother, as they spoke to the initial withdrawal management.<br />
<br />
A patient, newly arrived at Riverside Hospital and addicted to heroin, would be placed in one of these rooms with no conveniences except for a bare mattress and a mess bucket. They would be forced to undergo withdrawal in the seclusion room without any palliatives; medicine was only given in situations deemed to be life-threatening. After several days, when withdrawal was complete, the patient would be introduced into the general population.<br />
<br />
It was believed that this harsh return to reality, followed up by a stay of no less than 90 days on the island, and bolstered by athletics and education, would provide the best chance against relapse. To this end, all of the buildings on the island were remade; the services building became the school, the nurses’ residence became the girls’ dormitory, and the tuberculosis pavilion became the admissions hospital and boys’ residence. The building next to the TB pavilion – originally a childrens’ ward – was remade into a library and annex to the school.<br />
<br />
The optimism of the founders of this new program was quickly shattered, however. Recidivism rates were extremely high, and even within a militaristic island hospital designed with quarantine in mind, patients were still finding means of obtaining and using drugs within the hospital. There are accounts of boyfriends making the trip across the Hell Gate in order to visit in the middle of the night; accounts of orderlies getting paid in cigarettes to smuggle heroin on the ferries; accounts of physical and sexual abuse on and by patients. Official literature from the last few years of the program reads as more and more desperate; meanwhile, the city prepared to shutter Riverside entirely. In 1963, the island was abandoned for the third and final time.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 180%;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Tuberculosis Pavilion & School</span></span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/T1.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The front of the 1941 tuberculosis pavilion. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-Xh28TqF" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/T2.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">A reception area in the central administrative portion of the pavilion. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-hVGpSSS" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/T3.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">A hallway inside the pavilion. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-3wPBd99" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/T4.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">An x-ray room within the first floor medical wing of the pavilion. To the right is the control room. The tiles here have fallen away to reveal walls lined with integral lead blocks.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/T5.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The remains of one of the x-ray apparati. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-ZxcjCBs" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/T6.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">An airy dayroom at the end of the south wing speaks to the pavilion's original purpose as a ward for TB patients. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-Dx3Rphr" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/T7.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The building features two of these large bathtubs. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-kpjKt5t" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/T8.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The utilitarian main stairwell in the center of the building. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-4pnT4n3" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/T9.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">A view down the southern stairwell. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-QW9kzGN" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/T10.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The exterior of one of the seclusion rooms. This is the only such room which does not have an extra layer of sheet metal over the door. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-mXQc9rG" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/T11.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The deadbolts were retrofitted when the hospital was repurposed as a rehabilitation facility. This seclusion room door has two locks to ensure that even the strongest patient cannot escape, and is reinforced with sheet metal. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-6gvtWg9" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/T12.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The interior of a seclusion room. A heavy mesh screen, added after the initial construction, protects the windows from the withdrawing patient. A window provides a view into the room from the nurses' station, so that the patient is visible at all times during their withdrawal. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-PpmG247" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/T13.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">A chain and lock secure the screen that bars access to the windows. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-qrSP7pr" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/T14.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Several murals are still visible on the second floor, although most of them have been punched through, presumably by vandals in the 1970s when it was popular to sneak onto the island by boat. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-8mDwp6R" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/T15.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">On one of the murals, a patient has written a vulgar poem expressing his feelings about the institution. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-mgKNSDg" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/S1.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Originally designated the "Services Building", this building was referred to as the "School" after the hospital reopened in 1952. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-t948dKn" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/S2.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">While being altered to function as a school, shoddy construction techniques were employed for the partitioning. Here, the main hallway is askew under the weight of the metal beams in the wall. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-jqd5nDs" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/S3.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The principal's office; here, the door is helping to stop the wall from falling over further. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-HPSVHkM" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/S4.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The auditorium boasted a number of seats and a small stage. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-7779djk" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/S5.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The gymnasium, built in the hopes that athleticism could help overcome addiction. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-5LNNKg7" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/S6.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The lavatory behind the basketball backboard. This area has suffered significant water damage. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-zWmhWNJ" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/S7.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Although most of the schoolrooms have been stripped bare, this printing press remains. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-g7TT66p" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/S8.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The window has fallen out of the wall in this science classroom. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-5M7WsDr" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 180%;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Coda</span></span><br />
<br />
Riverside Hospital, in each of its incarnations and with its shifting goals, was always an optimistic undertaking with underwhelming results. The cost of running a quarantine hospital on an island, along with advances in medicine and poor living conditions, outmoded the facility to the point that it closed. In its later life, it was a valiant attempt by some high-minded individuals to treat another societal ill, that of drug abuse. But once again, poor conditions and institutionalized corruption led to its closure. In both cases, the patients were generally poor, and generally confined to the island against their will, though in both cases their confinement was supposed to be for the greater good of society. This sentiment seems fitting:<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/12.jpg" /><br />
<b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-VswMM49" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
Found on the wall in one of the seclusion rooms in the TB pavilion, it was certainly the writing of one of the youthful drug offenders in the last months of Riverside’s functioning. But it could just as easily have been written 78 years earlier, by an immigrant confined for displaying signs of diptheria just as the hospital opened, or perhaps in the 1930s by Mary Mallon. The one thing uniting almost all patients in the various versions of Riverside that existed is that they did not wish to be there; they were being treated for socially stigmatized diseases and disorders, by a society that kept them against their will. Whether the end result was positive or negative is a question for history to decide.<br />
<br />
Today, North Brother Island looks more or less as seen in the photographs shown here, and in some cases, worse. There are no plans to rehabilitate the buildings or reuse the island; it will remain under the jurisdiction of the New York City Parks Department, and will remain a bird sanctuary. In another year or two, the fourth floor of the nurses’ residence will be inaccessible. It won’t be long before the doctors’ cottage finishes falling in upon itself, much as the lighthouse and chapel have already done. The TB pavilion, constructed with more modern techniques and materials, will be around a good while longer. Meanwhile, the pundits can debate whether or not the island has accomplished more good or ill for society; one thing that is beyond debate is the fact that the island has a unique and fascinating history, and one that should not be forgotten.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/nbi/13.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The gantry crane at sunset; a rainbow behind a cloud gives the appearance of a second sun. </span><b style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island/i-rmXMPPW" target="_blank">[Print]</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">I would ask anybody with a personal connection to the island – patients, staff, the children thereof – to please email me with your story; eventually, I’d like to turn this study into a larger-scope project, and reveal more about the history of the Island.</span></span>Richard Nickel, Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15777516635980832695noreply@blogger.com335tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563849239571501746.post-91970172203266665382011-01-11T12:19:00.004-05:002011-01-11T13:02:40.910-05:00The Victory Theatre, Holyoke, MA<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/victory/01.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A view of the screen and stage from the mezzanine level.</span><br /><br />Originally constructed as a multipurpose theatre, which featured a mix of vaudeville performances and silent films, the Victory Theatre opened its doors in 1919. It received its name from the recent victory in the First World War, and the eagle medallion at the center of the proscenium is a nod to this. The Victory Symphony Orchestra accompanied both the live shows and films from a pit in front of the shallow stage; a pipe organ was used during matinee showings.<br /><br />Like many such combination spaces, it soon switched to a movie palace format with the decline of vaudeville in America. There are various reports on the seating capacity of the tiered theatre; it would appear that seating capacity around the time of the Second World War was over 2,000, but that by the 1960s, it had been reduced to around 1,700. The Victory showed MGM releases during the era in which each theatre would feature a particular studio's pictures.<br /><br />Like most movie palaces, however, the Victory was doomed to declining ticket sales as multiplexes with more extensive offerings began to outpace single-screen theatres. Holyoke itself was beginning to fade, factories were closing, and the downtown area was becoming blighted; there were less and less industrial workers paying for tickets at the theatre as the town took a downturn. These two factors led to the closure of the theatre; it showed its last film in 1979.<br /><br />Many attempts have been made over time to raise the funds needed to stabilize and restore the Victory, beginning shortly after its closure. Until recently, they have been largely unsuccessful. However, the property was recently purchased by the Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts, a group working to restore the structure. Of the estimated $25 million required to rehabilitate the building, over $17 million has already been secured, and the future of the Victory is very optimistic - plans are in place to reopen the historic movie palace in December 2012.<br /><br />Here are a few more photos of the current state of the building:<br /><br /><img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/victory/02.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The tiered mezzanine level, featuring Brazilian mahogany panelling.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/victory/03.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The projection room, while trashed by scrappers and vandals, still shows signs of its previous life. A Newsweek magazine from the mid-70s was sitting atop one of the projector bases.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/victory/04.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A disjointed basement attached to the mens' lounge led to a mens' restroom.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/victory/05.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The interior detailing of the theatre is remarkably intact, but there is certainly water damage. Here, some of the plasterwork has collapsed, revealing its wooden skeleton.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/victory/06.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The eagle in the center of the proscenium signified the World War One victory that gave the theatre its name.</span>Richard Nickel, Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15777516635980832695noreply@blogger.com87tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563849239571501746.post-88791855867506494082010-11-29T11:01:00.017-05:002013-06-26T01:41:57.300-04:00"Negative Space" Prints Now Available<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/00.jpg" /><br />
Some of the images displayed at the opening of <span style="font-style: italic;">Negative Space</span> in May.<br />
<br />
<br />
Following a successful gallery run this summer, I am now offering prints from my traveling show, <span style="font-style: italic;">Negative Space</span>, for sale on the Kingston Lounge. In all, 30 limited edition prints, as well as 6 uniquely framed prints from North Brother Island, are currently available, and these as well as other images are available in unlimited editions at 8"x12" for $95. The limited editions are offered at a set size and will never be printed at sizes above 8"x12" again. Each photograph is a signed and numbered archival-quality C-print on Kodak Endura paper. Please email me at kingston.lounge@gmail.com if interested in purchasing one.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 180%;"><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;">20"x30" Prints</span></span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/20x30/01.jpg" /><br />
Patient bed in fire-damaged ward<br />
Buffalo State Hospital, Buffalo, NY 2008<br />
Edition of 5<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/20x30/02.jpg" /><br />
Hospital room with private bathroom<br />
Brooklyn Navy Yard Hospital, Brooklyn, NY 2009<br />
Edition of 5<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/20x30/03.jpg" /><br />
Chair in patient bedroom, shot by moonlight<br />
Taunton State Hospital, Taunton, MA 2006<br />
Edition of 5<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/20x30/04.jpg" /><br />
View through window in door of seclusion room<br />
Middletown State Hospital, Middletown, NY 2007<br />
Edition of 5<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 180%;"><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;">16"x24" Prints</span></span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/16x24/01.jpg" /><br />
Peeling paint in fire-damaged ward<br />
Buffalo State Hospital, Buffalo, NY 2008<br />
Edition of 10<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/16x24/02.jpg" /><br />
Overgrown security window in patient bedroom<br />
Central State Hospital, Milledgeville, GA 2008<br />
Edition of 10<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/16x24/03.jpg" /><br />
Attic of administrative wing of Babcock Building<br />
South Carolina State Hospital, Columbia, SC 2008<br />
Edition of 10<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/16x24/04.jpg" /><br />
Ice stalagmites under clinic building<br />
Greystone Park State Hospital, Morris Plains, NJ 2007<br />
Edition of 10<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/16x24/05.jpg" /><br />
Easy chairs and patient art<br />
Creedmoor State Hospital, Queens, NY 2008<br />
Edition of 10<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/16x24/06.jpg" /><br />
Patient bowling alley<br />
Rockland State Hospital, Orangeburg, NY 2007<br />
Edition of 10<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/16x24/07.jpg" /><br />
View from mezzanine level<br />
Loew's Kings Wonder Theatre, Brooklyn, NY 2010<br />
Edition of 10<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/16x24/08.jpg" /><br />
Mezzanine aisle leading to lobby<br />
Loew's Kings Wonder Theatre, Brooklyn, NY 2010<br />
Edition of 10<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/16x24/09.jpg" /><br />
Lounge area<br />
Hotel Columbia, Sharon Springs, NY 2010<br />
Edition of 10<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/16x24/10.jpg" /><br />
Grand stairwell<br />
Empire Hotel, Sharon Springs, NY 2010<br />
Edition of 10<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/16x24/11.jpg" /><br />
Tea room<br />
Hotel Adler, Sharon Springs, NY 2010<br />
Edition of 10<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/16x24/12.jpg" /><br />
Blue door<br />
Central State Hospital, Milledgevile, GA 2008<br />
Edition of 10<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/16x24/13.jpg" /><br />
Sink in collapsing bathroom<br />
Central State Hospital, Milledgevile, GA 2008<br />
Edition of 10<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/16x24/14.jpg" /><br />
Patient dormitory in main building during winter<br />
Greystone Park State Hospital, Morris Plains, NJ 2009<br />
Edition of 10<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/16x24/15.jpg" /><br />
Morgue<br />
Quarantine Hospital, Ellis Island, NY 2008<br />
Edition of 10<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/16x24/16.jpg" /><br />
Statue of Liberty as seen from measles ward<br />
Quarantine Hospital, Ellis Island, NY 2008<br />
Edition of 10<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 180%;"><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;">12"x18" Prints</span></span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/12x18/01.jpg" /><br />
Top of grand stairwell at first light<br />
Brooklyn Navy Yard Hospital, Brooklyn, NY 2008<br />
Edition of 20<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/12x18/02.jpg" /><br />
Patient dormitory at sundown<br />
Buffalo State Hospital, Buffalo, NY 2008<br />
Edition of 15<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/12x18/03.jpg" /><br />
Connector hallway between ward pavilions<br />
Buffalo State Hospital, Buffalo, NY 2008<br />
Edition of 15<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/12x18/04.jpg" /><br />
Arch in main building<br />
Greystone Park State Hospital, Morris Plains, NJ 2009<br />
Edition of 15<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/12x18/05.jpg" /><br />
Corridor in ward for violent patients<br />
Greystone Park State Hospital, Morris Plains, NJ 2009<br />
Edition of 15<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/12x18/06.jpg" /><br />
Dormitory in asylum for women<br />
Pavilion building, Hart Island, NY 2008<br />
Edition of 15<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/12x18/07.jpg" /><br />
Southern staircase<br />
Admirals' Row, Quarters B, Brooklyn, NY 2008<br />
Edition of 15<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/12x18/08.jpg" /><br />
View of hallway and patient bathroom<br />
Central State Hospital, Milledgeville, GA 2008<br />
Edition of 15<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/12x18/09.jpg" /><br />
Cast iron staircase<br />
Buffalo State Hospital, Buffalo, NY 2008<br />
Edition of 15<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/12x18/10.jpg" /><br />
Patient bedroom with red curtain<br />
Athens State Hospital, Athens, OH 2008<br />
Edition of 15<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 180%;"><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;">North Brother Island Prints</span></span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/NBI.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Prints from North Brother Island in unique artifact frames.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
In 2008 I salvaged six oxidized copper X-ray holders dating to the late 1930s from the tuberculosis pavilion on North Brother Island. These unique artifacts, utilized in the operatory and exam areas of the hospital, were transformed by an expert woodworker into shadowbox frames designed to hold 11"x14" prints. The frames and prints contained within are museum quality, and completely archival. UV-protective plexiglass is used as glazing for the pieces, and the wood of the frames is lined with aluminum tape, preventing any acid leakage. The prints are archival C-prints on Kodak Endura paper, hinge-mounted with gummed linen tape onto acid-free foamcore. An acid-free white mat finishes the piece, and each frame is backed with acid-free paper and galvanized hardware. Six images from the island were chosen to fill the frames, and each is being offered as a one-of-a-kind piece.<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/nbi/01.jpg" /><br />
Front facade, tuberculosis pavilion 2008<br />
Available<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/nbi/02.jpg" /><br />
Spiral staircase, nurses' residence 2008<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">Sold</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/nbi/03.jpg" /><br />
Scale between coal house and physical plant 2009<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">Sold</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/nbi/04.jpg" /><br />
Two-story boilers in physical plant 2010<br />
Available<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/nbi/05.jpg" /><br />
Hallway in services building 2010<br />
Available<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/negativespace/nbi/06.jpg" /><br />
Basketball court in services building 2010<br />
Available<br />
<br />
Inquiries can be made by <a href="mailto:kingston.lounge@gmail.com">sending me an email</a> at kingston.lounge@gmail.com.Richard Nickel, Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15777516635980832695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563849239571501746.post-19735736633272898822010-04-15T13:51:00.007-04:002011-02-06T04:55:44.784-05:00The Hotel Columbia, Sharon Springs, NY<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/columbia/01.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The first floor lounge of the Hotel Columbia.</span><br /><br />A short walk from the <a href="http://kingstonlounge.blogspot.com/2008/08/hotel-adler-sharon-springs-ny.html" target="_blank">Hotel Adler</a>, its sister building in Sharon Springs, NY, stands the Hotel Columbia. Like the Adler, the Columbia primarily catered to New York City's Jewish population following the second World War. After the decline of the Borscht Belt region, much of the town catered in particular to Orthadox and Hasidic Jews; the Columbia was one of several hotels that did so, adapting all kitchen facilities to follow Kosher law, and removing the televisions from the establishment.<br /><br />Unlike the Adler, the Columbia was primarily a long-term hotel; rooms were rented by the week (at an average of $140 per in 1977). Except for the tiny economy rooms on the top floor, every room came with a kitchen across the hall; guests of the hotel would be given keys to both. There was some light evening entertainment offered at the Columbia; noted Ukrainian dance musician Michael Skorr performed there for 18 consecutive summers. However, many guests would opt to head over to the Adler for the more elaborate comedy shows and vaudeville acts featured over there. Like the Adler, the Columbia shuttered its doors after the 2004 season; its fate remains in the air.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/columbia/02.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The main lobby & check-in area.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/columbia/03.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A typically narrow hallway within the building.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/columbia/04.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A standard two-bed room. The kitchen which accompanied this room is located across the hallway.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/columbia/05.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Each kitchen had two sink basins - one for meat and one for dairy, in keeping with Kosher law.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/columbia/06.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A detail of one of the kitchens.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/columbia/07.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The third story landing.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/columbia/08.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The end of one wing of the Columbia is sustaining significant water damage; a carpet of moss has grown in this third floor room.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/columbia/09.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The water damage has caused a partial ceiling collapse in this second-floor room, revealing rotting joists.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/columbia/10.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Like the Adler, many rooms in the Columbia had tacky wallpaper that must have looked dated by the 1970s, even though the hotel ran for decades after.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/columbia/11.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Most bathrooms did not include bathing facilities; there were communal baths in the center wing of the hotel.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/columbia/12.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Plenty of artifacts, like these blankets, remain, slowly moldering in this beautiful old building.</span>Richard Nickel, Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15777516635980832695noreply@blogger.com77tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563849239571501746.post-6111355935316202952009-09-18T12:14:00.007-04:002009-09-18T13:24:29.477-04:00Central State Hospital, Milledgeville, GA<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csh/1.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">View of a hallway and into a bathroom in the Walker Building, Central State Hospital.</span><br /><br />Central State Hospital, formerly known as the Georgia Lunatic Asylum, the State Asylum for the Insane, and the Georgia State Sanitarium, is the oldest and largest psychiatric facility in the state. Located on a sprawling 1,750 acre campus in Milledgeville, GA, which was at the time the state capitol, the Asylum admitted its first patient in 1842. Patient population exploded rapidly, and by the 1870s overcrowding was an issue; new buildings and additions to existing buildings were rapidly constructed to deal with the ballooning need for beds. This trend continued through the 1960s, when Central briefly contended with New York's Pilgrim for the title of largest psychiatric facility in the world.<br /><br />In 1884, the Walker Building was constructed for the reception of white male convalescent patients. Unlike the state-run public health facilities in the North, segregation was common in Southern asylums; at Milledgeville, the practice continued until at least the 1940s. The extent of segregation from state to state varied wildly, as did the degree of difference in quality of treatment. At some asylums and sanitoriums, white patients received treatment in airy dayrooms of sturdy buildings, whilst black patients were crowded into poorly insulated tents. Central State Hospital was somewhat more forward in its thinking; the first building for "coloured" patients was erected in 1866, albeit far from central Powell administration building. This evolved into a distinct campus of buildings for black patients. Somewhat more stark and institutional than the more ornate buildings for white patients, the remaining structures constructed for African Americans have now been repurposed as a prison.<br /><br />The more ornate Walker Building, on the other hand, was abandoned around 1974, and over thirty years of disuse have not been kind to it. The heat and humidity of central Georgia have taken their toll; much of the third floor lacks a ceiling, and the walls are a tapestry of peeling paint, algae, mold, and disintegrating plaster. Foliage has grown over large portions of the building, and invaded the interior spaces. Insects and small mammals have made their homes here, as has a large coyote. Yet through all this, some aspects of grandeur remain in this venerable building, used for almost a century.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csh/2.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The roof gone, vines have begun to overtake this third-floor bathroom.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csh/3.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Third floor hallway, the roof long rotted away.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csh/4.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A typical patient room, with a viewing window to allow orderlies to look in on patients.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csh/5.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A curtain still hangs in a dark patient bedroom.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csh/6.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The lack of a roof creates interesting interplays of light at various times of day.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csh/7.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Although in somewhat better condition than the top floor, water damage and humidity have wrecked havoc on the floors below as well.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csh/8.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Among the few artifacts left in the building, this cabinet still contains the last patients' toothbrushes, each labeled with a surname.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csh/9.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Plaster has collapsed into a sink in a tiny corner bathroom.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csh/10.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">In the violent ward hallway at the Southern end of the building, the doors were outfitted with spinning platforms that could be used to provide food to patients without opening the door.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csh/11.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A closeup of one such platform. A deadbolt separate from the one locking the door would keep the platform from rotating when not in use.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csh/13.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">As the sun sets, the reflection of light off the red brick building colors the walls facing the courtyards.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csh/15.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A typical scene as the sun hangs low over the Walker building.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csh/14.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A large corner room near sundown.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/csh/12.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Foliage is overtaking the building; here, an intact window provides a climbing point for vines which are beginning to slip into the building through the cracks.</span>Richard Nickel, Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15777516635980832695noreply@blogger.com206tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563849239571501746.post-86309148227927124512009-05-27T13:56:00.005-04:002011-02-09T15:59:27.367-05:00Fort Totten Army Hospital<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/tottenhosp/01.jpg"><br /><br />Sadly, very little information is widely available on this hospital building within the Fort Totten landmark district near Bayside, Queens. Built in 1864, the year in which the primary purpose of the Fort shifted from defense of the mouth of the East River to casualty support and hospital care, the facility served the Army in various capacities until 1974, when it was emptied and abandoned. Sometime before 1920 a cafeteria annex was added to the rear of the structure; at some point prior to abandonment, the hospital appears to have been repurposed for office and administrative use, and the basement for storage.<br /><br />Unfortunately, the building has fallen prey to some fairly signicant demolition-by-neglect. There is considerable water damage which has led much of the building to collapse; the parts that have not collapsed are in imminent danger, as evidenced by the mushy floors and the separation of some rooms’ floors from the load-bearing walls.<br /><br />Here’s a look at the interior of the hospital. Readers with more knowledge of its history or with stories about its active use are heartily encouraged to comment below.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/tottenhosp/02.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">An operating room, the floor half-gone.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/tottenhosp/03.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Retrofitted fluorescent lights hang akimbo from a damaged tin ceiling.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/tottenhosp/04.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A dormitory, one of the few rooms in the building which gives a hint of the original purpose as a hospital. This room would have been lined with beds & side tables, and the outlets spaced along the walls would have provided power.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/tottenhosp/05.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A large room on the second floor contained what was by far the most bizarre artifact found within the hospital – a child’s riding grasshopper.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/tottenhosp/06.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/tottenhosp/07.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Although the floor in this bathroom is completely gone, the plumbing is enough to hold these heavy porcelain sinks in place over the abyss.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/tottenhosp/08.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The basement is full of military documents. This one-pager explains how to zero a .50 caliber machine gun.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/tottenhosp/09.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">”Battlefield Damage Assessment and Repair for Combat Vehicles”</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/tottenhosp/10.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Surprisingly, the attic was among the most intact sections of the hospital.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/tottenhosp/11.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A typical attic room showing water damage.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/tottenhosp/12.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The other side of the door to this room bore the name of a military officer in fading paint.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/tottenhosp/13.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">On the interior side of the door, one of the few artifacts remaining in this building – a fading photo of an Army marching band.</span><br /><br />Taken in conjunction with the <a href="http://sympathetic-compass.blogspot.com/">Pasilalinic-Sympathetic Compass</a>.Richard Nickel, Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15777516635980832695noreply@blogger.com74tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563849239571501746.post-71083049090541863982009-02-28T15:07:00.016-05:002010-11-29T11:01:42.785-05:00Happy Birthday!Today marks the one-year anniversary of the first post on this blog, and what a year it has been! I'd like to thank you, my readers. It is truly gratifying to have received tens of thousands of hits over the last year. At this point in time, the Lounge averages hundreds of hits a day, and many of these are repeat visitors.<br /><br />I endeavor to capture the structures presented in this blog as best I can in order to create a permanent record of their existence, and their grandeur. Many will not be around in a decade's time. They sure don't make 'em like they used to; that buildings like these are left to rot really makes a statement about our collective myopia. The motto of this blog, a quote from my ideological father, really rings true here: "Great architecture has only two natural enemies: water, and stupid men."<br /><br />In the year to come, I hope to have the time to update more regularly. I certainly have much to share; in the next few months, look for posts on several asylums, North Brother Island, and a whole slew of other historically significant buildings.<br /><br />Thank you again, my readers. I wouldn't do it without you.<br /><br />Cheers,<br />RichardRichard Nickel, Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15777516635980832695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563849239571501746.post-72017423851520637952009-02-19T11:57:00.008-05:002011-02-09T15:59:43.502-05:00The Brooklyn Navy Yard Hospital Complex<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/01.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">One of two grand staircases inside Naval Hospital building at daybreak.</span><br /><br />The story of the Brooklyn Navy Yard hospital complex, historically known as the Hospital Annex and recently known as NAVSTA Brooklyn, begins in 1824 with the sale of the Schenck Farm to the secretary of the Navy. Adjacent to the Navy Yard (known then as the Brooklyn Naval Shipyard), the plot of land was envisioned as a hospital and support facility for the Yard. When first purchased, it was separated from the Yard proper by mudflats created by the Wallabout Bay; as the bay was filled in to extend the Yard, the boundary all but vanished.<br /><br />Construction of the hospital facilities began in earnest in 1830; the main hospital building was completed in 1838. By 1850, the Annex was a self-contained parcel of land, walled-in, with a gatehouse, a laboratory, and a cemetery. In 1864, the Surgeon's Residence was constructed. During the Civil War, the hospital would supply over one third of the medicines used by Union troops, and the basement of the main hospital building would be used to confine and treat wounded Confederate prisoners. During this period, more space was needed, and needed quickly, and a wooden annex was added to the main hospital building. This allowed hundreds of additional beds in the facility; over 500 patients could be treated at once.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/02.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">A map of the Hospital Annex during the Civil War. Note the annex attached to the rear of the originally C-shaped main building.</span><br /><br />The Hospital Annex would serve the Navy through several more wars, providing care facilities, research, and medicine production. During the Second World War, the hospital was overburdened (treating over 4,700 patients in six months during the height of combat), and so after the war, in 1948, the Hospital Annex was decommissioned, with its functions transferred to the much larger Naval Hospital at St. Albans, Queens. Over the next forty years, substantial demolition would occur at the complex, leaving just over 30 buildings still standing.<br /><br />In 1966, the Navy Yard was decommissioned. However, the Annex would remain in the hands of the Navy as NAVSTA Brooklyn, a support and administration facility. Many of the remaining buildings were transformed into quarters and offices for enlisted men and officers alike. The main hospital building would remain in abandonment. In 1989, the Navy disposed of NAVSTA Brooklyn. On their way out, they stabilized and abated the main hospital building and the Surgeon's Residence, both New York City landmarks. Since 1993, the property has belonged to the Brooklyn Navy Yard; recently, however, Steiner Studios has purchased the complex in order to expand their studio space. There are high hopes that, at the very least, some of the buildings (including the two landmarks) will receive new life.<br /><br />Here is a look into a few of the buildings on this historic campus.<br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Building R95</span></span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/03.jpg" /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Constructed 1830-1838</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Original designation: Naval Hospital</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Final designation: Naval Hospital</span></span><br /><br />The main hospital building is truly a sight to behold. The superstructure, over 170 years old, is in remarkably good condition. Because of stabilization and abatement, the entire interior is whitewashed, leaving the place eerily monochromatic except when the prevailing daylight happens to paint color onto the walls.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/04.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The rising sun shines through a hole made in one of the boards to create negative pressure during abatement, creating a wash of orange on the walls.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/05.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Early morning light adds a yellow cast to some of the rooms. It is very dark inside the hospital, since most of the windows are boarded.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/06.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The hallway leading to the Northern grand stairwell.</span><br /><br />The building was stabilized in 1989; while the stabilization has been largely successful, and there is little sign of imminent collapse, there has been some shifting. Hopefully, Steiner will quickly invest in re-stabilizing the building and patching the holes in the roof; water damage is becoming evident in a couple of areas.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/07.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The stabilized Northern stairwell.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/08.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">A view up the stairwell showing stabilization beams.</span><br /><br />The rooms have all been emptied of artifacts and abated; whitewash covers everything within, encapsulating the lead paint.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/09.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The light peeking in through a crack in a board creates a blue cast in this room. Photographing this hospital can be difficult - this was a 6.5 minute long exposure.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/10.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Most of the original lighting fixtures in the hospital were replaced by fluorescent fixtures as they came into vogue.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/12.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Hallway near the Southern stairwell; the original milk glass fixtures remain in place.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/11.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">A typical patient room, illuminated by early morning light.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/13.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Nearly everything in the hospital - down to the radiators and light switches - was whitewashed. This is one of the few rooms where color is still visible beneath the white.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/14.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Even the doorknobs were whitewashed.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/15.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">A typical dark room; the window being completely boarded over, the only light comes from the room across the hall.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/16.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Most rooms had fireplaces; many were removed and bricked over, presumably when it became illegal to use fireplaces in the Boroughs.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/17.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The central portion of the hospital, used for reception and internal functions. The hallways contain 18 foot high columns.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/18.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">A breaker box in the basement allows the construction lights throughout the building to be turned on.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/19.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The rear of R95.</span><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Building R1</span></span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/20.jpg" /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Constructed 1864</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Original designation: Surgeon's Residence</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Final designation: Commandant's Residence</span></span><br /><br />The beautiful French Second Empire styled Surgeon's Residence, with an elegant concave mansard roof, has been admirably preserved by the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation. Showing little sign of deterioration whatsoever, its interior details are remarkably intact.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/21.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The view from the main entrance to the residence.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/22.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The living room, with a view across the hall into the parlor.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/23.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The second floor hallway as seen from the landing.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/24.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Another view of this hallway.</span><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Building RG</span></span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/25.jpg" /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Constructed 1919</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Original designation: Nurses Quarters</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Final designation: Bachelor Officers' Quarters</span></span><br /><br /><br />This building, comprised of a central section and two perpendicular wings, was of a much more utilitarian construction than earlier buildings, and was heavily renovated when the campus became the NAVSTA Brooklyn support facility.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/26.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The main lobby, with stairs leading down to the Offficers' Bar and up to each wing.</span><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/27.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">What remains of the Officers' Bar.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Building RD</span></span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/bny/28.jpg" /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Constructed 1910</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Original designation: Laboratory</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Final designation: Bachelor Enlisted Quarters</span></span><br /><br />Nearly pitch-black on the first two floors, the distinguishing feature of the old laboratory building are the extensive (and intact) skylights on the top floor. This would provide abundant natural light for surgeries and examinations.Richard Nickel, Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15777516635980832695noreply@blogger.com94tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563849239571501746.post-13877796377948414972009-01-26T11:12:00.008-05:002011-02-09T15:59:55.900-05:00The Samuel R. Smith Infirmary<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/infirmary/1.jpg" /><br /><br />The current state Samuel R. Smith Infirmary building tells a sad story which highlights the failures of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, as well as the generally sad state of historic preservation in general.<br /><br />In 1861, a one-room infirmary was founded on Staten Island. It was the first private hospital on the island; the population at the time was 25,000. The infirmary was named in honor of Samuel R. Smith, a prominent local doctor who was heavily involved in charity care for the poor. Over the next few decades, the infirmary would move several times, occupying successively larger structures in order to be able to care for more patients. In 1870, it moved into the late Dr. Smith's former residence.<br /><br />After years of <a href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A06EEDB173AE033A25756C1A9649C94699FD7CF">fundraising</a>, in the late 1880s enough money was raised to build a new structure on Castleton Avenue. Alfred E. Barlow was chosen as architect. He designed the new castle-styled building according to prevailing treatment modalities of the day, with all four corners occupied by rounded towers. This was thought to cut down on the spread of disease. In 1890, the infirmary moved from Dr. Smith's house to this new building, which was opened with some great fanfare.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/infirmary/2.jpg" /><br /><br />In 1917, the Infirmary was renamed The Staten Island Hospital, a nod to the fact that it served all of the island. For decades, the campus would expand, adding several new pavilions, nurses' quarters, a physical plant, and other buildings. Then in 1979, the hospital abandoned the campus, moving into a brand-new, state of the art facility on Seaview Avenue. Thus began the decline of the gorgeous Barlow-designed infirmary building.<br /><br />In 1983, the Landmarks Preservation Committee considered the infirmary for landmark status. Nothing ever came of the discussion, and over the next several years, alternate development plans were floated, some of which would maintain the character of the building, some of which would not. Work was even begun on turning one of the other buildings on the campus, a six-story brick structure, into a condo complex. This was shortly halted, and the entire campus started to fall into ruin. The infirmary building had been gutted, leaving very little of the interior character intact, but no motions had been made to stabilize it.<br /><br />Over the next twenty-five years, the infirmary became prey to the whims of graffiti vandals, arsonists, and perhaps worst of all, the elements. Token efforts were made to stabilize parts of the building and to seal it against intruders, but these were not terribly successful. Today, the infirmary is in terrible shape. Most walls are covered with tags, and garbage is strewn about. Huge gaps in the roof allows water to invade, and floors are collapsing. The only interior details which remain intact are sections of the ornate pressed-tin ceiling, and the gorgeous cast-iron staircase.<br /><br />It is sad to see the noble notion of preservation fail as badly as it has here, and the LPC is at least partly to blame. Because of their 1983 deliberations, which did not achieve anything, they are unwilling to consider the building at present. The property owners have been negligent; with no legislative prod forcing them to maintain the building, it is quickly falling into ruin. Whether it can be saved now is anybody's guess. Sadly, I'm guessing that it will either be demolished by the hand of man, or just left to demolition by neglect.<br /><br />Here's a peek at what it looks like today.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/infirmary/3.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The grand iron staircase, first floor. Note the remaining pieces of tin ceiling still attached.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/infirmary/4.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Detail of one of the cast iron columns supporting the staircase.<br /></span><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/infirmary/5.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Staircase as seen from the second floor landing. Note the wooden finials on the banister, still very much intact.<br /></span><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/infirmary/6.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">A half-collapsed room in one of the rounded corners. The beams on the far side of the room show signs of fire damage.<br /></span><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/infirmary/7.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">A smaller staircase leads up to the attic.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/infirmary/8.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The attic. The floor is caved in throughout much of it, and the superstructure of the building is literally collapsing in upon itself.<br /></span><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/infirmary/9.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Even despite the graffiti and water damage, the grandeur of the whalebone arching in this lofty attic is quite evident.<br /></span><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/infirmary/10.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The first floor lobby. Even gutted and ravaged by water and vandals, the beauty of the building shows through in subtle ways.<br /></span>Richard Nickel, Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15777516635980832695noreply@blogger.com130tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563849239571501746.post-2908537053780165332008-09-18T09:15:00.008-04:002017-11-29T14:50:19.127-05:00Buffalo State Hospital - the H. H. Richardson Complex<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/buffalostatehospital/01.jpg" /><br />
<br />
In stark contrast to the majority of locations featured on this blog, the H. H. Richardson Complex, a grand <a href="http://www.kirkbridebuildings.com/" target="_blank">Kirkbride</a> building in Buffalo, NY, is not in danger of being demolished or left to rot. A National Historic Landmark, the building is currently being stabilized and has recently been secured against intruders. Better still, budget is already in place in order to restore the gorgeous Romanesque building to her former glory. The <a href="http://www.richardson-olmsted.com/index.php" target="_blank">Richardson Center Corporation</a> is overseeing the restoration.<br />
<br />
Buffalo State Hospital's original main building complex features a central Administrative building crowned by two 185-foot-tall towers, copper roofed with dormer windows. The masonry is of red medina sandstone, and is one of the earliest examples of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Richardson" target="_blank">H. H. Richardson</a>'s trademark style, Richarsonian Romanesque. The central Administrative building is flanked on either side by two sandstone ward pavilions, connected by curved connector hallways. These hallways served a dual purpose - their curvature made it impossible to place beds in the connector hallways, which was a common practice at overcrowded hospitals of the era. At the same time, it allowed a greater level of supervision, as doctors and nurses could easily traverse the entire length of the complex, while orderlies and patients could be confined to a single ward. This notion conformed to the hospital hierarchy of the day, and was touted by John P. Gray, superintendent of Utica State Hospital and an adviser to Richardson, as one of the innovative features of the Buffalo asylum's design.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/buffalostatehospital/02.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Hallway of the innermost brick ward, second floor. </span><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/H-H-Richardson-Complex-Buffalo/i-nCGW8D9" target="_blank">[Print]</a></span></i><br />
<br />
The original plan for the hospital was to build the remaining ward pavilions - a total of five on each side - in the same sandstone. However, the outer three wards on either side (the pavilions to the west were for female patients, and those to the right for male) were constructed of brick when the budget fell short. The wards were constructed <span style="font-style: italic;">en echelon</span>; the Administration building had four stories, and on either side, the next two wards had three stories, the following two had two stories, and the final ward (reserved for violent patients) had a single story. In the 1960s, the Male brick wards were demolished in order to build an ugly, utilitarian modern building for the psych center.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/buffalostatehospital/03.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">A dormitory at the end of the second story of the inner brick ward. </span><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/H-H-Richardson-Complex-Buffalo/i-hXbtBsT" target="_blank">[Print]</a><span id="goog_1309367734"></span><span id="goog_1309367735"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></span></i><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/buffalostatehospital/04.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">A cast iron stairway in the brick wards. The stairs in the sandstone wards have a higher degree of ornamentation. <span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/H-H-Richardson-Complex-Buffalo/i-4rrkS8c" target="_blank">[Print]</a></span></span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/buffalostatehospital/05.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The first floor hallway of the center brick ward. This floor contains dozens of discarded wheelchairs. </span><span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/H-H-Richardson-Complex-Buffalo/i-mndksT8" target="_blank">[Print]</a></span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/buffalostatehospital/06.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The top floor of the connector hallway between the two sandstone pavilions. </span><span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/H-H-Richardson-Complex-Buffalo/i-CFqtDj2" target="_blank">[Print]</a></span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/buffalostatehospital/07.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">A door on the second floor of the brick wards. Note that there is a mesh window for the orderlies to look in upon the patients. Like most of the hardware in the hospital, the doorknob is missing. </span><span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/H-H-Richardson-Complex-Buffalo/i-8WtSHwf" target="_blank">[Print]</a></span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/buffalostatehospital/08.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">View of the violent ward of the Female Wing from the attic of the center brick ward. The violent wards were a single story tall, and their footprint was very different from that of the rest of the hospital. </span><span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/H-H-Richardson-Complex-Buffalo/i-vG7Gt5R" target="_blank">[Print]</a></span><br />
<br />
One feature of the Buffalo State Hospital Kirkbride which differentiates it greatly from many other Kirkbride buildings is the single-loaded main corridors. More expensive from a construction perspective, the southern-facing windows in these corridors provided a maximal amount of light, which was in keeping with Dr. Kirkbride's Moral Treatment plan. Each main corridor is bisected with a smaller corridor to the north, each of which was double-loaded. Bathroom and shower facilities, as well as coatrooms and storage, were placed in these extensions. The footprint of the Topeka State Hospital (now mostly demolished) <a href="http://www.kirkbridebuildings.com/blog/the-buffalo-topeka-connection" target="_blank">appears </a>to have been based upon this design.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/buffalostatehospital/09.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Another brick ward hallway. </span><span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/H-H-Richardson-Complex-Buffalo/i-LcFLdJT" target="_blank">[Print]</a></span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/buffalostatehospital/10.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Ornate fireplace in the Administration building.</span><br />
<br />
The majority of the complex is in remarkably good shape, especially considering its long abandonment. The most significant damage is to the hallway connecting the inner and center brick wards. In order to get from one to the next, one must carefully pass over a "bridge" of swaying, uncollapsed floor.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/buffalostatehospital/11.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">At some point between 2004 and 2008, someone placed a radiator grill over the collapse bridge. </span><span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/H-H-Richardson-Complex-Buffalo/i-Xh7MfVB" target="_blank">[Print]</a></span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/buffalostatehospital/12.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Two geriatric chairs in a corner of a dayroom in the sandstone wards. </span><span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/H-H-Richardson-Complex-Buffalo/i-r8TQg2J" target="_blank">[Print]</a></span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/buffalostatehospital/13.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">A coatroom in the brick wards. </span><span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/H-H-Richardson-Complex-Buffalo/i-5Kzt9Rn" target="_blank">[Print]</a></span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/buffalostatehospital/14.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Some medical equipment remains in the pitch-black depths of the single-story violent ward. The EEG machine in the background was manufactured by Medcraft, the same company which designed the B-24 Glissando ECT machine, the standard in electroshock therapy from the 50s through the 70s. </span><span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/H-H-Richardson-Complex-Buffalo/i-mq4mgp3" target="_blank">[Print]</a></span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/buffalostatehospital/15.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Shower stalls with privacy walls in the sandstone wards. In many similar hospitals, the showers would be communal, with no such walls in place. Here there are walls, but no doors - ensuring that the orderlies could keep a watch on patients even as they could not view each other. </span><span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/H-H-Richardson-Complex-Buffalo/i-G3qB2Gt" target="_blank">[Print]</a></span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/buffalostatehospital/16.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Hallway in the sandstone wards. Note the brightness here as a result of the 12-foot-tall windows in the single-loaded corridor. </span><span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/H-H-Richardson-Complex-Buffalo/i-V9SJ87G" target="_blank">[Print]</a></span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/buffalostatehospital/17.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">An original sandstone fireplace featuring a medieval "Green Beast" motif. Sadly, at some point this particular example was painted over in the ward colors of the time. </span><span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/H-H-Richardson-Complex-Buffalo/i-768pXXh" target="_blank">[Print]</a></span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/buffalostatehospital/18.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Detail from an unpainted "Green Beast" fireplace. </span><span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/H-H-Richardson-Complex-Buffalo/i-bD7HZdX" target="_blank">[Print]</a></span><br />
<br />
At some point, while the sprinkler system was still functional, a fire broke out in one of the patient rooms on the outer sandstone ward. The result is that the smoke clung to the upper reaches of the walls until the sprinklers kicked in, causing the soot to run down. The result is actually rather stunning, although certainly nearly disastrous. Fortunately, the structural damage is minimal - the room in which the fire originated is fairly charred, but outside of that, no serious damage was done.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/buffalostatehospital/19.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Soot runs down the walls, the paint now peeling. </span><span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/H-H-Richardson-Complex-Buffalo/i-XDKL2xT" target="_blank">[Print]</a></span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/buffalostatehospital/20.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">A patient's bed in the fire-damaged ward. </span><span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/H-H-Richardson-Complex-Buffalo/i-QsvPhDs" target="_blank">[Print]</a></span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/buffalostatehospital/21.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The sprinklers did not kick in here, and the heavy soot near the 16-foot-high ceiling is evidence of the amount of smoke generated in the fire. </span><span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/H-H-Richardson-Complex-Buffalo/i-ctgxtvs" target="_blank">[Print]</a></span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/buffalostatehospital/22.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Sunset through the windows in a dormitory inside the fire-damaged ward. </span><span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/H-H-Richardson-Complex-Buffalo/i-gCWwdf6" target="_blank">[Print]</a></span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/buffalostatehospital/23.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Sunset inside a solarium which was later converted to a dormitory. Note the 16-foot ceilings and the ornamental pillars. </span><span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/Negative-Space-Gallery-Prints/i-W24DDTp" target="_blank">[Print]</a></span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/buffalostatehospital/24.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The twin towers after dark.</span><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: normal;">In addition to the prints available in selected captioned photographs above, further images from Buffalo State Hospital may be obtained in <a href="https://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/H-H-Richardson-Complex-Buffalo/" target="_blank"><b>this gallery</b></a>, or by purchasing my photobook on the subject, "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Buffalo-State-Hospital-History-Institution/dp/0986218219/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1511984915&sr=8-1&keywords=buffalo+state+hospital" target="_blank"><b>Buffalo State Hospital: A History of the Institution in Light and Shadow</b></a>".</span></span>Richard Nickel, Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15777516635980832695noreply@blogger.com213tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563849239571501746.post-31101187901163690972008-08-29T11:23:00.010-04:002013-05-26T14:35:20.861-04:00Hart Island<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/hart/00.jpg" /><br />
<br />
Taken in conjunction with <a href="http://www.marielorenz.com/">Marie Lorenz</a>, who provided not only good company, but passage on her lovely hand-made boat, the <a href="http://www.marielorenz.com/tideandcurrenttaxi.php">Tide and Current Taxi</a>.<br />
<br /><br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/hart/01.jpg" /><br />
<br />
There are dozens of islands in the waters around New York City, and many of them have rich and little-known histories. Perhaps the most fascinating of all of them is Hart Island, 131 acres of land just east of City Island at the western edge of Long Island Sound. Originally called "Heart Island" due to the fact that its footprint resembles the shape of the organ, the "e" was soon dropped.<br />
<br />
Hart Island has been a prisoner of war camp a number of times; in the mid-19th century, it housed confederate POWs; in the mid-20th, it held POWs from World War 2. The island has also been home to a prison and a womens' asylum, a workhouse and NIKE missile base. But if the average person knows anything at all about Hart Island, it is likely the fact that, since 1869, the island has served as New York's sixth potter's field. Approximately 800,000 bodies are buried on the island, making it the largest publicly funded cemetery in the world.<br />
<br />
In addition to the potter's field, which takes up the entire northern half of the island, and has now moved to the southern tip, there are a number of buildings remaining on the island.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/hart/02.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Southern entrance to the Pavilion building.</span><br />
<br />
The Pavilion building, built in 1885, was originally an insane asylum for women. It handled the overflow from the asylum on Roosevelt Island, and typically received chronic cases. In the 1970s, it saw its final use as a drug rehab facility called Phoenix House.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/hart/03.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The dedication plaque on the Pavilion building.</span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/hart/04.jpg" /><br />
<br />
Patients at Phoenix House did occupational therapy as a part of their treatment. In the Pavilion building, they worked on leather shoes. Some of the shoes are scattered about near the building; it's remarkable that in over three decades, they remain in relatively good shape.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/hart/05.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The first floor of the Pavilion building. All evidence points to this floor having been repurposed as a combination of kitchen and dining hall.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/hart/06.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">View into one of the kitchen areas in the Pavilion building.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/hart/07.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Second-floor landing of the northern stairwell.</span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/hart/08.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The second floor of the Pavilion.</span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/hart/09.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">It appears as if all the shoes were piled up here when the shoemaking operations ceased.</span><br />
<br />
Hart Island has a web of overgrown streets connecting the various buildings in the center of the island. A few of the roads, such as the one leading to the monuments at the north end of the island, show signs of recent use, but most have been completely abandoned along with the structures, the streetlights, and the rest of the once-bustling central portion of the island.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/hart/10.jpg" /><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/hart/11.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Attached to the physical plant is this Romanesque dynamo room, built in 1912.</span><br />
<br />
Many of the smaller structures on the island were used by the Department of Corrections as records storage buildings. Today, hundreds of thousands of pages of moldering records slowly decay in these abandoned buildings.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/hart/12.jpg" /><br />
<br />
In 1935, a new Catholic chapel was built to replace one which had, by that point, become dilapidated. The chapel is still in remarkably good shape.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/hart/13.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The exterior of the chapel.</span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/hart/14.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">A view towards where the altar would have been from the mezzanine level.</span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/hart/15.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The stained glass is sadly gone from this window. On the milk crate on the mezzanine, there are two grenades. Downstairs in the chapel proper, dozens of grenades are piled up in another milk crate.</span><br />
<br />
Towards the southern part of the island, a small white building stands next to recent excavations. As the potter's field expands, the buildings will be demolished to make way for new graves.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/hart/16.jpg" /><br />
<br />
The last building we visited was at the edge of the newest burial fields. Another structure that was part of the original womens' insane hospital, and repurposed to be a part of Phoenix House, this ward building was in much worse shape than the Pavilion building. The floors were ready to go in several places, and the roof had completely fallen in on significant sections of the northern part of the building.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/hart/17.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">In the courtyard between the wards to the west, there was an open burial pit in which a goose had taken residence.</span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/hart/18.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Much of the second floor was collapsing. Here, the roof is making a valiant effort to fight off nature, but as always, the water has been winning the battle.</span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/hart/19.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Some patient beds remain on the somewhat more intact southern side of the building.</span><br />
<br />
Beneath the ward in which the patient beds were found, we came upon a room that had several empty pine boxes inside. The bags full of Tyvek suits and rubber gloves helped tell the story of the boxes - here were the former resting places of people who had been buried on Hart Island, but disinterred at the requests of their families.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">(ADDENDUM: Melinda Hunt has pointed to the lack of certain specific markings on the boxes, as well as the lack of dirt, as evidence that these were not, in fact, disinterred coffins. Rather, they were coffins that were never buried. I believe her correction warrants notation on this blog.)</span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/hart/21.jpg" /><br />
<br />
I might at this point mention the work of Melinda Hunt, and her <a href="http://www.hartisland.org/">Hart Island Project</a>. Hunt has been working for years to open up the records of the people buried on Hart Island, in order that families can more easily find the graves of their kin. At the same time, she works to destigmatize the concept of mass burials; while there is a misconception that only the homeless are buried in the potter's field, this is simply not true. The majority of those buried are infants; in addition, those who cannot afford burial elsewhere often come to Hart Island, as well as anybody whom the city cannot identify within a certain time period.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/hart/20.jpg" /><br />
<br />
On our way out of this building, we passed by one of the mass graves, apparently for adults. Since no burials were being performed on the day of our visit, the graves were covered over with plywood. A half-dozen yellow rubber gloves lay nearby. When 150 coffins fill each adult grave, they are covered over with dirt, and marked with a simple marker.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/hart/22.jpg" /><br />
<br />
The first person buried in the potter's field was Louisa Van Slyke, a 24-year-old woman, in 1869. Since then, over three quarters of a million people have found final rest on the island. The records for most of these burials were lost in a fire.<br />
<br />
The potter's field at Hart Island is the largest cemetery in the United States.Richard Nickel, Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15777516635980832695noreply@blogger.com203tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563849239571501746.post-8180818261898863892008-08-19T12:53:00.006-04:002011-02-06T04:55:59.191-05:00The Hotel Adler, Sharon Springs, NY<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/adler/exterior.jpg"><br /><br />Sharon Springs, NY, was once a bustling resort town built upon a natural mineral spring. It was thought that the high levels of sulphur, magnesium, and iron in the water provided a variety of health benefits, the exact specifications of which varied widely over the years. By the end of the 19th century, it was a highly fashionable escape from New York; patrons included the Vanderbilts and Oscar Wilde. By the time of the Depression, there were more than a dozen resort hotels operating out of the town, alongside a highly regarded golf course, a number of bath houses, and other amenities common to resorts of the era.<br /><br />Among the last of these built was the Adler, which first opened its doors in 1927. Already the town was fading; Saratoga Springs was competing for, and for the most part winning, the patronage of the prestigious. Add to this the economic hardships of the Depression, which happened only a few years after the hotel was built, and the hotel was economically troubled from the beginning.<br /><br />But after World War 2, the town again came into prominence, now as a getaway spot for wealthy German Jews, who were not welcomed easily at Saratoga. In 1946, Ed Koch, future mayor of New York, bussed tables at the Adler. The town was again booming, and the kitchens in all of the old resort hotels were made Kosher; in a phenomenon not unlike the Borscht Belt of lower New York, Sharon Springs became a major Jewish escape.<br /><br />But the decline of resorts in general, as well as the building of the New York State Thruway, which bypassed Sharon Springs, took their toll. One by one, the resort hotels and bath houses closed; the Adler was among the last to shut its doors, in 2004. Since then, little has changed there - the occasional vandal has sadly snuck in, and there is graffiti vandalism throughout various areas of the hotel, including the grand dining room. But things are looking up for the hotel - unlike other notable Sharon Springs hotels, such as the Pavilion and the Washington, it was not demolished; now it has been purchased by a group which plans to restore it (as well as the Imperial Baths and the Columbia Hotel) and remake Sharon Springs into a resort community once again. Hopefully, this grand five-story Spanish Revival building will once again see life.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/adler/lobby.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The grand lobby of the hotel, showing some original architectural flourishes.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/adler/bluebedroom.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A bedroom, with furniture still intact. The majority of the rooms in the Adler still have beds and dressers; in some cases, ancient TVs or old telephones add another glimpse into its past.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/adler/elevator.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The third floor elevator.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/adler/mattresses.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A pile of old mattresses. Several rooms had clearly been disused longer than the majority of the hotel; many were used to warehouse surplus items such as these.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/adler/staircase.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The grand stairwell running up the center of the building.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/adler/pinkgreenroom.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A fifth-floor room; note the tin still intact along the sloped ceiling.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/adler/toilet.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A tiny bathroom, lacking a sink, inside a closet-sized room with a skylight on the top floor.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/adler/diningroom.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A private dining room on the first floor.</span>Richard Nickel, Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15777516635980832695noreply@blogger.com111tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563849239571501746.post-44934879266957578962008-07-28T12:51:00.004-04:002009-02-25T12:51:39.665-05:00Witte's Marine Salvage - the Staten Island boat graveyard<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/wittes/afromshore.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/wittes/bow.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/wittes/cabinet.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/wittes/badfloor.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/wittes/rubberpipe.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/wittes/bedframe.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/wittes/brig.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/wittes/winchtree.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/wittes/woodenboats.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/wittes/hookdetail.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/wittes/mooringline.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/wittes/bunk.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/wittes/eastendboats.jpg">Richard Nickel, Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15777516635980832695noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563849239571501746.post-8220167155432311322008-06-18T14:30:00.004-04:002009-02-25T13:08:38.342-05:00Brian Lehrer Follow-Up - Seaview Hospital<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/seaview05/hallway.jpg"><br /><br />So a few people have written to me asking for a post on Seaview Hospital, more recently known as <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/hhc/html/facilities/seaview.shtml">Sea View Hospital</a>, which I spoke about during my recent appearance on Brian Lehrer Live. Unfortunately, I have not made a trip out there in some time, and have no recent photos from the womens' ward pavilions, but here are some scans of negatives shot a couple years back in the four remaining wards.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/seaview05/bedinhall.jpg"><br /><br />In 1905, the City of New York set aside funds in order to build an institution to combat the "white plague" of tuberculosis; a site was selected on Todt Hill on Staten Island, and Raymond F. Almirall was given the commission to design the hospital. Almirall incorporated current trends in the treatment of tuberculosis into his design, at the center of which were eight pavilions, four for men, and four for women. The pavilions were spaced in a fan-like formation in order to maximize the amount of sunlight that reached each one. They were light and airy, with most floors consisting of a double-loaded hallway leading up to a large dayroom / dormitory; ample windows all around would ensure that the curative sea air would reach the patients.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/seaview05/supervisors.jpg"><br /><br />By 1909, construction had begun on the hospital. The eight ward pavilions were arranged semi-circularly around a central administrative building, and the hospital also boasted a power plant, a nurses' building, and a cafeteria, as well as a laboratory. The buildings were joined by a walkable steam tunnel system, most of which exists to this day, and some of which is still in use. In 1913, the first patients were admitted.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/seaview05/hairdryer.jpg"><br /><br />By 1920, the hospital was overcrowded due to an increase in infection rates; plans were drawn, and additional dormitory buildings were added. By the 1930s, the patient population topped 2,000. It was at this hospital, one of the first municipal tubercular sanatoriums in America, that doctors finally ironed out the first curative treatments for TB, the Isoniazid drugs. Their diligence would be the hospital's downfall, as the patient population rapidly declined. By the 1960s, the hospital began undergoing conversion to a geriatric facility; in the early 1970s, the ward pavilions were emptied, and in 1973 the four mens' wards were demolished. In their place rose utilitarian modern architecture. The four womens' ward pavillions were left to rot next door, slowly falling apart in the sea air.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/seaview05/gurney.jpg"><br /><br />Perhaps the most striking aspect of Almirall's design are the terra cotta murals on the balconies of the top floors of the pavilions. Originally on the exteriors of the buildings, and easily visible from the next ward over, in the 1930s the murals were partially eclipsed by porches built around the balconies with little thought.<br /><br />Almirall himself made the initial sketches for the murals. He wanted to provide something symbolic of the healing taking place at the hospital, while at the same time something aesthetically pleasing for the patients. What he came up with was a bevy of themed elements which fit together beautifully - on a background of gold and falling green seashells, figures of doctors and nurses with their patients are framed with shields displaying symbols of medicine, as well as symbols of the sea, wreathed in fabrics.<br /><br />To translate his designs into a physical reality, Almirall enlisted Joost Thooft & Labouchere, a company in continuous operation in Delft, Holland, since 1653, originally under the name De Porceleyne Fles. The murals were created using the sectile technique, originally introduced during the 1900 Paris World's Fair. Sectile work is unique in that each piece of terra cotta was shaped to fit the lines of the design, instead of the design being divided over a number of tiles; it was used exclusively by this company from 1900 to 1910. Therefore, the murals at Sea View Hospital are a rarity, and are considered the best example of sectile work in America. Each piece was fired in a charcoal kiln, giving each a unique firing pattern; this accounts for the diversity one sees even in the gold blocks. Sadly, today the tiles are crumbling from the walls of the last four pavilions; minimal efforts have been made to save them. I sincerely hope that, at some point, what's salvageable can be preserved.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/seaview05/terracotta.jpg">Richard Nickel, Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15777516635980832695noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563849239571501746.post-23429387116166058462008-06-04T12:33:00.006-04:002008-06-04T12:47:32.454-04:00Brian Lehrer LiveLast Wednesday, I had an opportunity to appear on <a href="http://brianlehrer.tv">Brian Lehrer Live</a> alongside Kevin Walsh from <a href="http://www.forgotten-ny.com/">Forgotten NY</a> to talk about guerrilla preservation and, in specific, <a href="http://kingstonlounge.blogspot.com/2008/02/admirals-row.html">Admiral's Row</a> and Staten Island's Seaview Hospital. Here's a video of the segment:<br /><br /><object width="400" height="300"> <param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> <param name="movie" value="http://www.vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1094634&server=www.vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" /> <embed src="http://www.vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1094634&server=www.vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><br />There are a number of things I wish I could have gone into further detail on; in particular, I had prepared some little talks on the history of the sectile technique in terra cotta, in use from 1900-1910 and of which the murals at Seaview Hospital are some of the late examples of. I was also planning on talking at length about Admiral's Row, and in particular, about recent developments with the Section 106 proceedings on the property. As I was not able to, I will post a follow-up blog in the next few days, with some more information, but in the meantime, I would like to point everybody's attention to the <a href="http://www.nan.usace.army.mil/business/buslinks/admiral/index.htm">official Army webpage</a> on which further information is posted.<br /><br />Being my first time on TV, I was a wee bit nervous, but I think the interview went well. The hardest part was not jumping in with epithets and invectives when Kevin brought up scumbag developer Bruce Ratner; since the interview was about preservation and old buildings, I didn't want to stray too far off topic. I'll get the Seaview photos up soon; they're several years old and shot on film, so they need to be scanned and edited before being posted on the internet.<br /><br />On another note, apologies to you, my readers, for the lapse in posts - I've been too busy off taking photos and studying sites to edit any or get them up on the blog. In the next few weeks, though, I plan on posting a handful of new locations in New York and beyond.Richard Nickel, Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15777516635980832695noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563849239571501746.post-7997884434466499042008-04-25T21:08:00.008-04:002011-02-09T16:00:41.577-05:00Kingston Lounge Wine & Dine Restaurant & Cocktail Lounge<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/kl/facade.jpg"><br /><br />On the corner of Kingston & Bergen, a quiet corner in the re-awakening Brooklyn neighborhood of Weeksville, sits the Kingston Lounge. A small jazz club which opened in 1944, the "Kingston Lounge Wine & Dine Restaurant & Cocktail Lounge", as its falling marquee proclaims, was a neighborhood staple for decades. In the 1980s, it fell into decline, and soon only the apartments above were in use. By 2001, it was deserted.<br /><br />During its heyday, the Kingston attracted guests from as far away as Harlem; even holding no more than 60 patrons at a time, the Lounge attracted musicians as renowned as Kenny Dorham, Randy Weston, Max Roach, Sahib Shihab & Matthew Gee. In fact, Dorham, Gee, Cecil Payne and company recorded a 1960 album under the name of The Swingers (Jazzland Records) on which the second track is entitled "Kingston Lounge", in honor of the place where they practiced and jammed out, entertaining the block until the wee hours.<br /><br />Much of the older generation living in Bed-Stuy remembers the Lounge in full form. Down the block from me, I heard a story about how the parents of a middle-aged resident went on their first date there. I sat with a neighbor on the stoop and heard about amazing and inspirational shows, jam sessions that could still be heard as the neighbors woke and shuffled past in the early mornings, and the dark side of the Kingston - until the 70s, the club would not admit white patrons under any circumstances.<br /><br />But that was the time, and that was New York. In the 80s, the club was repeatedly cited for health code violations; some in the neighborhood cried foul and claimed that the inspectors were trying to shut the Lounge down for no good reason. In light of history, that doesn't seem unreasonable. The upper floors were used for many years as apartments, until they too didn't make code - and the building was shuttered.<br /><br />About two months after naming my blog after the institution in question, I finally had the opportunity to visit the interior of the Kingston Lounge.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/kl/lounge.jpg"><br /><br />Sadly, the thing most notably absent upon walking into this historic location was... <span style="font-style:italic;">history</span>. Years ago, the vacant Lounge was purchased by a real estate prospector. It has been warehoused ever since, but either at the time of its abandonment, or (more likely) after purchase, it was stripped of most of its character. There are still mirrored panels on one wall, and the remnants of the last decorative paint job on the opposing wall - but in general, without knowing the history of the place, one wouldn't assume that it was a place where legends honed their skills, where generations of Brooklynites spent their nights soaking in carefully rehearsed tunes and hours-long impromptu jam sessions.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/kl/2nd_floor_blue_room.jpg"><br /><br />The upstairs is just as empty, albeit more photogenic. On the second floor, there is a bedroom soaked in deep blue paint. I continued to tour the apartments for a few minutes, but saddened by the utter dearth of historical evidence, I shortly departed. Here are the rest of the shots I took that morning - less than 10 in all.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/kl/2nd_floor_hall.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/kl/2nd_floor_green_room.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/kl/lil_kim.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/kl/3rd_floor_pink_room.jpg">Richard Nickel, Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15777516635980832695noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563849239571501746.post-46948538114636375302008-04-19T16:54:00.007-04:002009-02-25T13:01:07.255-05:00Norwich State Hospital - Salmon (male forensic) building<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/salmon/salmon.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Salmon building (r) with Administration building to its left.</span><br /><br />The Salmon building at Norwich State Hospital, Connecticut's second public insane asylum, founded in 1904, was a building built for male forensic patients, those found not guilty by reason of insanity. An original construction building, part of the initial footprint of the hospital campus, Salmon was a milestone in terms of the construction of psychiatric hospital buildings for the violent insane. Every window was barred with prison-style 2/3 inch thick iron bars built into the brick, as well as a heavy mesh screen. In order to move down the ward, the door ahead would only be unlocked when the one behind was closed - airlock style - which would insure that even in the event that a patient escaped his room, he wasn't going far.<br /><br />In nearly 70 years of operation, not a single escape was recorded from Salmon.<br /><br />Flanking the Administration building, in direct contrast with the <a href="http://www.kirkbridebuildings.com/">Kirkbride </a>plan which dictated that violent patients would be housed far from the administrators, Salmon was echoed by a female forensic unit named Awl, which was situated on the other side of the Administration building.<br /><br />These photos were recently taken on a trip with <a href="http://kensinger.blogspot.com/">Nate Kensinger</a> and Sylvie Bolioli's <a href="http://shootingpeople.org/watch/film.php?film_id=49126">Law & Disorder: The Insanity Defense</a>.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/salmon/salmon_corridor.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A hallway in the Salmon building, showing the heavily fortified doors typical of the structure.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/salmon/salmon_bathroom_high.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">One of the bathroms in the structure. If needed, attendants could slam and lock the heavy mesh door, isolating patients who acted out whilst using the facilities.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/salmon/salmon_patient_register.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A patient registry, into which the names of current patients would be inserted for census and tracking purposes.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/salmon/salmon_collapsed_room.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A patient's room, heavily collapsed. Even after over thirty years of abandonment, this room would be difficult to escape from if the door were locked - the barred window is still holding strong.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/salmon/salmon_nurses_sink.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">An intact sink in one of the nurses' stations.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/salmon/salmon_wheel.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The wheel on the bottom of a bedframe, sunk deep into thirty years' worth of disintegrating plaster.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/salmon/salmon_room_26.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">View from a hallway into a patient's bedroom; this is on the inner part of the ward, which would have been the most secure section of the building.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/salmon/salmon_26_bed.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The patient's bed in room 26, still almost ready for a nap after decades of desertion. These beds were stuffed with horsehair, as were the pillows. Thanks Nate!</span>Richard Nickel, Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15777516635980832695noreply@blogger.com39tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563849239571501746.post-85469115674496449622008-03-31T20:30:00.012-04:002013-06-25T16:32:21.606-04:00Creedmoor State Hospital, Building 25<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/creedmoor/sickbay.jpg" /><br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: red;">Current Print Sale:</span></b> For the next little while, <a href="http://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/Creedmoor-State-Hospital/30187934_PRCNkp#!i=2597032147&k=j7MXnm8" target="_blank">a special gallery of prints from Creedmoor State Hospital</a>, most never offered for sale in any form, will be available at <b>50% off the usual SmugMug prices.</b> So if you want to own a (representational) piece of this hospital, now's your chance!<br />
<br />
Queens' Creedmoor State Hospital (now <a href="http://www.omh.state.ny.us/omhweb/facilities/crpc/facility.htm">Creedmoor Psychiatric Center</a>) had its humble beginnings as the farm colony for Brooklyn State Hospital (now <a href="http://www.omh.state.ny.us/omhweb/facilities/kbpc/facility.htm">Kingsboro</a>). A prevailing theme in the treatments of the period was that fresh air, a rustic environment, and hard work could help restore the faculties damaged by diseases like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dementia_praecox">dementia praecox</a> and <a href="http://www.historyhouse.com/in_history/hysteria/">hysteria</a>.<br />
<br />
So it was that in 1912, Creedmoor unofficially opened with an initial populace of 32 patients deemed curable; the farmland was worked, which in turn meant less expense for the pantries of the local state hospitals. But the overcrowding typical of public mental hospitals in the first half of this century soon took hold at Creedmoor, which was granted status as an independent psychiatric hospital, and which grew exponentially - by the 50s, there were over 8,000 patients housed in over fifty buildings, including the highrise hospital which is still in use.<br />
<br />
But with the advent of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorpromazine">Thorazine </a>and similar antipsychotic medications, and the trimming of state hospital budgets (especially under Reagan), deinstitutionalization occurred. The state hospitals were emptied, and large portions of most of the campuses fell into disuse. Creedmoor was no exception. Over the last several decades, the patient population has declined from over 5,000 to under 500. Large portions of the campus were sold off.<br />
<br />
One building that is disused but has not been sold off or demolished is Building 25. Among the oldest buildings left on the campus, it was vacated in the early 1970s, and has scarcely been revisited since - with the exception of a squatter who seems to be in it for the long haul. Anecdotally, he has been living in the building for over half a decade; his robust squat (not photographed out of concern for his privacy) would seem to confirm this. While these photos were taken, he was angrily pacing outside the building, acutely aware that his home had been invaded.<br />
<br />
Each floor is comprised of a long hallway intersected on either end by a perpendicular wing; one half of each wing was a sunny dorm, in which dozens of patients would have had cots. The other half of each wing was a hallway full of seclusion rooms. The violent, ill-behaved, and incurable patients would live in these tiny rooms, each with a solid metal door. The main hallway connecting the wings contained, on each floor, a kitchen and dining hall, and a number of rooms used for other nonresidential purposes, from storage to lithography.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/creedmoor/darkhall.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">One of the main hallways which connected the wings.</span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/creedmoor/dorm.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">A standard dorm, capable of accommodating a great number of patients.</span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/creedmoor/seclusionhall2.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">A seclusion hallway with private rooms.</span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/creedmoor/mrsbshaw.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">This one belonged to Mrs. B. Shaw.</span><br />
<br />
Past each wing, at either end of the long hall, was a dayroom. Patients who were behaved would spend their days here, watching television or playing boardgames, engaging in group therapy or staring at the wall, numbed by powerful sedatives.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/creedmoor/3dayroom.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">A dayroom at the Western end of the third floor.</span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/creedmoor/yellowhallchair.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">View from another dayroom towards primary wing junction.</span><br />
<br />
Here are various other scenes from the second and third floors of the hospital; the first floor is boarded off and too dark to shoot.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/creedmoor/plushchairs.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Two blue chairs have been torn apart by animals under a patient mural, a common sight in abandoned state hospitals.</span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/creedmoor/wheelchairgarden.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Wheelchairs have been collected and piled up in a number of adjoining rooms on the second floor.</span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/creedmoor/paintpeels.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Layers of paint peel back from the wall.</span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/creedmoor/redcurtainward.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Another seclusion hall, at the end of which is a heavy grated window typical of this hospital building.</span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/creedmoor/keys.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">A room on the third floor contains a pair of lithographic presses, a pair of typewriters, and a cash register.</span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/creedmoor/hose.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Surprisingly, scrappers seem not to have made any attempts on the copper in this structure.</span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/creedmoor/neuroblastomas.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Research still sits on a desk in a doctor's study, ready to be leafed through.</span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/creedmoor/rockingchair.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The third floor cafeteria, later used for chair storage.</span><br />
<br />
The fourth floor is interesting because it contains the evidence of 35+ years' worth of pigeon inhabitance. There are pigeon droppings everywhere; in places, they are knee deep due to accumulation under pigeon "hangouts" - pipes, fixtures, and other perches. It makes for a rather surreal effect, though one starts to get a headache after about 10 minutes on this floor.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/creedmoor/pigeondayroom.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Fourth floor dayroom.</span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/creedmoor/poophall.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Fourth floor seclusion hall.</span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/creedmoor/poopchair.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">A chair, sunken into the filth.</span><br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/creedmoor/pigeonbathroom.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Fourth floor bathroom.</span><br />
<br />
But above all this filth and squalor, still partially hidden behind a layer of pink paint, the Virgin Mary shines her beatific smile down upon the empty dayroom, innocently ignorant of the suffering, healing, and humanity which once graced this building.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/creedmoor/mary.jpg" /><br />
<br />
Images from Jacques Toussaint Benoit, another local photoblogger, are available at the <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://sympathetic-compass.blogspot.com/2008/04/i-hear-he-also-has-bridge-to-sell-us.html">Pasilalinic-Sympathetic Compass</a></span>.Richard Nickel, Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15777516635980832695noreply@blogger.com128tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2563849239571501746.post-79766306706852516562008-03-18T21:52:00.007-04:002009-02-25T12:39:52.137-05:00Floyd Bennett Field: Hangars 3 & 4 Steam PlantFloyd Bennett Field was New York City's first municipal airfield; from its opening in 1931 until the unveiling of LaGuardia in 1939, it was the only one. Decommissioned in 1971, control of the field passed to the National Parks Service, for inclusion in the Gateway National Recreation Area. The hangars nearest to Flatbush Avenue, eight original hangars spread amongst four buildings, were designated a historic district, as was the original administration building.<br /><br />However, the NPS has not done a very good of keeping the property up. While hangars 5-8 were adapted for reuse as a sports complex, arguably compromising their historic character, hangars 1-4 have been left to rot.<br /><br />Here is a glimpse into the steam plant which powered hangars 3 & 4; notes and remnants remain which allow one to trace its use into the late 60s, at which point it was apparently decommissioned as the airfield sputtered into disuse.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/fbfboiler/wideview.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Three boilers provided steam for the pair of hangars.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/fbfboiler/easymath.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">On the side of one of the boilers, a worker has solved a math equation.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/fbfboiler/fuseboxes.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Fuseboxes for boilers 2 and 3.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/fbfboiler/redsteamvalve.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">A red steam control valve sits under some asbestos insulation sloughing off a connected pipe.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/fbfboiler/switches.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Switches to control the blower, compressor, and oil pump.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/fbfboiler/burnerlog.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">A workers' log notes issues with maintenance of the burners and boilers.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/fbfboiler/yellowliquid.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Some yellow liquid remains in a glass tube attached to another steam valve.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ianferencephoto.com/kingstonlounge/fbfboiler/squaregauge.jpg"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">A square pressure gauge at the head of one of the boilers.</span>Richard Nickel, Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15777516635980832695noreply@blogger.com20