Allahu Akbar State Hospital Part III

2/19-3/12/2011

Driving through campus during the week, Steaz and I spotted a smashed window on the Dietary building. "Oh, that'll be sealed by the end of the week" Krush told us. Fast forward to Saturday: Steaz and myself drop through the window, avoiding shards of jagged glass that seem to reach for any exposed skin. My boots hit the concrete floor with a loud thud, and i observed my surroundings.

A massive oven stood menacingly in the corner. After Steaz jumped in, we set off to explore the building. When the hospital was functioning, this had been the central kitchen and dining hall. Patients were provided with their own small dining room, while next door the staff had a noticeably larger room to eat in.

The main kitchen was largely stripped, although a large mixer remained. The front of the building contained administrative offices and the loading dock. Interestingly, we came across a fire hose that was still fully charged. Fighting the temptation to play with it, we wrapped up shooting and left for the day.

On a recon drive-thru the week following the Dietary mission, I spotted something that made my jaw drop. The central patient building that had been 3/4 disused since the Center days appeared to be empty. The staff cars were missing from the front parking lot, and gazing through the heavy mesh windows, I could no longer see the patients milling back and forth in their dayroom. Circling the perimeter of the building, I found an unlocked door.

That weekend, Krush, Scarecrow, Steaz and myself hit a few of the dorm buildings early. After spending a few hours inside shooting, Crow, Steaz and I decided to do the Central building while Krush bailed. Using the door I discovered, we entered a small lobby before passing through some heavy-duty emergency escape doors. The room we entered was pitch-black and the air had a heavy feeling to it. Gripping my tactical torch, I thumbed the switch and stopped cold. We stood in the darkened maw of the hospital's auditorium. A massive stage with a baby grand piano stood elevated to our right, while to our left, hundreds of seats illuminated in the sterile white glare of LED lighting stretched into the darkness.

We quickly explored the abandoned section of the building. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end the entire time we were inside, as we all knew that we weren't in a truly "abandoned" building. We had all watched maintanance doing their rounds, shutting down the steam and electrical connections to the very building we were currently inside. We knew all too well that they could come back at any second.

During the next week, I popped a door on one of the 8 pods that made up the building's dayrooms. This door led directly into the section that had been abandoned the week prior. I couldn't go that weekend, so Steaz and Crow went instead. When i saw their photos of a fully illuminated auditorium, along with jars containing lambs preserved in formaldehyde, I knew I had to get back immediately. The following weekend, the three of us returned. Steaz and Crow went off to hang out in the auditorium, while I shot the newly vacated section of building. I looked over my shoulder so frequently that it probably looked like I had a fucking nervous twitch. The circuit breakers humming in the distance and the sound of a broken pipe gushing gallons of water my only company.

After shooting the new section, I walked half the length of the building and entered the backstage door of the auditorium to find my friends. I felt a chill go up my spine as I stepped onstage, the piano illuminated under the crimson glow of the stage lights. "WHAT THE FUCKKKKKKKK" I exhaled. The auditorium, despite suffering a horrifying roof leak and having been abandoned far longer than the rest of the building was still connected to the electrical grid.

I can't properly put into writing just how incredible of an experience it was standing inside a decrepit, terribly decayed theater with the stage lights on and a large painter's lamp illuminating the rest of the cavernous space in an otherworldly glow. "The stage lights were on when we came in..." Steaz and Crow reported upon joining them. I had a very bad feeling about spending too much time inside. I quickly got my shots, trying to use the monstrous space and eerie lighting to my advantage.

The Central Building would prove to be the structure on property that we first explored every inch of. Over the next two months, we would return time and again to venture through every single room, hallway, pod and ward. The kitchen in the center of the building was massive in itself, and the sign "Violence is Never The Answer" provided many entertaining group-shots. One great memory that sticks out is Crow playing with an apparently long-dead exit sign in the auditorium, smacking it lightly when it suddenly lit up in his hands. It stayed on until the power was cut to the building that May.

Every trip, whether i was with my buddies or by myself, I would enter backstage in the auditorium. Moving through the cocoon of curtains, I would find the switchboard. Pulling hard on the massive lever that read "Main Stage Lights", the creepy red glow would slowly wash over the piano and stage. I would sit silently in the front row of seats, having plugged in the giant painter's lamp, and inhale the heavy, dusty air. We had found nirvana.

Above: Self-Portrait in the Central Building's massive kitchen.

Above: The Auditorium, the main attraction of the Central Building.

Above: LtR, Scarecrow, Steaz and Mad Dawg waiting for the show to start.

Above: Perfectly clean hallway in the freshly vacated section of the Central Building.

Allahu Akbar State Hospital Part II

 2/12/2011

The icy wind cut the air like a knife as I turned the key in the ignition and killed the engine. Stepping into the pre-dawn gloom of another February morning, Steaz, Scarecrow and myself grabbed our bags and began the long walk up the lonely road towards the institution. Barely anyone was out at this hour, and we weren't remotely concerned about being questioned as we were in the middle of absolute-fucking-nowhere. The broken crown of a smokestack visible over the treetops being our landmark of where the State Hospital was.

A week earlier, the three of us crouched in thigh-deep snow gazing at a dark hole leading into a steam tunnel. Now this mission was a 3 man operation. I personally had brought up the idea of using the tunnel as a ways onto the campus, Steaz and myself kept watch while Crow checked it out. After a few moments, Crow came back to the hole with indefinite news. His flashlight had died, but the tunnel went a LONG way uphill.

Now, back at the same dark portal, we planned to find out just how far the rabbit hole really went. I had a theory that since this tunnel supplied the steam for the institution, that there would perhaps be a walkable tunnel to most buildings on campus. Donning MSA respirators, we slid feetfirst over asbestos covered pipes and dropped to the damp floor of the tunnel. After regrouping, we began the long hike up the hill.

After about a half mile, we came to a slight bend in the tunnel. Racks of pipes on our left and the mental map in my head the only thing guiding us, we came to an intersection. The words "Glenview + Pleasentview" were visible in orange spraypaint with an arrow pointing right. After following this side tunnel for about a hundred feet, we came to a locked door. "Shit, fuck, asshole, motherfucker and cunt" were just several of the curses that came to mind, until Crow pushed the door hard as can be and it creaked open. Wide-eyed with anticipation, we walked through a boiler room that led into a connecting patient tunnel. Far in the distance, we could see a flickering fluorescent lightbulb still burning in a building that had been out of use for 7 years

Heading upstairs, we were somewhat disappointed to find that this building had been largely stripped of interior items. Throughout our exploration, a constant high-pitched scream emanated from a dying fire control box in the basement. On the top floor, the remnants of a woodshop yielded several interesting signs and other items.

After 2 hours of exploring, we began the long walk out. Climbing headfirst out of the tiny window, I felt a sense of victory unlike any other. For having not the faintest clue of where we were going or what we were really doing, I felt proud to have accomplished so much with my best friends. Little did I know it, but this was the beginning of a 4 month commitment to exploring every inch of this institution.

Above: Toilets (obviously)

Above: EOR

Above: Self-Portrait

Allahu Akbar State Hospital Part I

December 18th, 2010.

The light layer of ice crackled underfoot as Krush and myself left the perimeter road and jumped into the woods. It was a beautiful morning for exploring in the country. Unfortunately, mother nature decided to take a massive shit on us and drop the temperature down to somewhere around 10 degrees at 5 'o clock in the morning. With the wind chill, it was probably closer to 3 degrees. But i digress.

This former State Hospital/School began life as the county poorhouse in the 1800's before becoming a State Hospital in 1938. Although this institution was plagued with the same problems as many other mental institutions in the 40's and 50's, it was one of the first institutions in the United States to implement the open ward policy. Unlocked doors and open buildings promoted an air of homeliness in the otherwise unsettling institution. And a beautiful setting situated amongst rolling hills and farmland helped patients to regain their senses.

 In 1972, records indicate that the Hospital was converted to a center for the developmentally disabled. Conflicting records indicate that the State Hospital was open until 1980, but no substantiating evidence to support that has been unearthed. The days of the State Center were filled with extensive cases of physical and sexual abuse by both patients and staff.

In 1997, following a series of lawsuits, the State Center finally closed. For the next 14 years, various entities would lease out the former hospital buildings for independent ventures.

Krush and I quietly crept up the hill towards the back of the massive building. At 5AM, we figured no one would be around to see us enter. As it turned out, we were rudely awakened from our sense of complacency. An employee from the detention center in the active building next door decided to take a shortcut around the back of our target building and almost saw us literally 5 feet from the road while we were in the woods. Amazingly, she didn't, and we sprinted across the road, popped open the stairwell door and entered.

Exploring this building was a surreal experience. Although it wasn't the first location that I've explored with power and running water, the mere fact that this building had been abandoned for close to 15 years and was still juiced was astounding. I can vividly recall standing in the first room we entered, a dayroom, and hearing the hum of a clock as its hands rotated around the upside-down frame. Looking down the main hallway from the seclusion wing, we could see several displaced fluorescent lightbulbs flickering eerily in the dim halflight.

Although we've not been able to locate any official records as of this date, it seems that this building was used as an admissions/ward building for new patients. It was home to the gymnasium, pool, and library as well as many patient rooms. Stacks of paperwork indicate that the last purpose that this building served was as a polling place for a local election in 2005, and at that, only a small portion of the first floor was used. Beyond that, it has remained much as it was when it was abandoned in the State Center days close to 15 years ago. As of this writing, the power has been cut to this building as well as 95% of the campus. The last remaining company, a juvenile detention center, vacated their building in March, and the township, whom owns the property, has no plans for reuse. For now, it stands as an empty testament to a multitude of horror stories.

Above: Basketball Court.

Above: Clown Skee Ball

Above: Pool Rules.

Above: State Hospital marker in polished marble.

Empirepex '09

10/24/2009

This Victorian-Gothic beauty was the second Kirkbride I explored. Hidden among the rolling hills of a certain state in the northeast, construction on this hospital began in 1868. Expensive materials such as southern yellow pine were used for the flooring, and by 1871 the first patients began to occupy this vast building. As time passed, many modernizations had to be made as plumbing and heating became widely available, turning the basement into a confusing labyrinth of pipes and narrow corridors.

One of the most interesting things about this structure is its design. Unlike most Kirkbrides, which contain a central administration building flanked by three symmetrical wings radiating off the center, this building had asymmetrical wings. The male wing was far longer than the female wing, in anticipation of there being more male patients than female.

 As de-institutionalization took hold in the 50's, the hospital began to shut down in phases. As far back as the 70's, there were reports of collapses in the end wards of the male wing. Amazingly, this was happening as patients were still being kept in the Kirkbride. Soon after, the wings were emptied and the admin was used until about 2001 when the campus was finally vacated. Tragedy struck in 2007, when "lightening" struck the roof of the male wing and caused a massive fire. The entire wing with the exception of the two end-wards was gutted, and the property remains in a state of limbo to this day.

I'll never forget the smell of the building as we trudged through mud and wet leaves towards the burnt out shell of the male wing. Unfortunately we'd chosen a day where one of the biggest nor'easters in recent history had decided to strike, and our small group was drenched to the skin in pouring rain. Shivering in the cold October wind, I followed Aerofennec up the fire escape steps and into the ruins of the (somewhat) intact end-ward. From here, we navigated the majority of the male wing and reached the breezeway to admin. Luck however, wasn't on our side as the property manager showed up right then (even in the pouring fucking rain) and proceeded to hunt us for the next two hours.

We tunneled out of the Kirk to a patient dorm down the hill to escape. Upon reaching this building and heading up to the top floor, we looked out a window to see the manager's truck parked outside. The next thing we noticed was that the front door of the building was open..."SHIT! RUN!!". Back up the hill we went, safely making it out of the Kirk and heading off for some well deserved food.

A few hours later we hit the road to our next location. The weather still wasn't cooperating in the slightest, and by the time we reached this hospital, if anything, it had intensified. The wind and rain beat down on us unrelentingly as I slipped between the links of the fence and scurried for the yawning portal of a broken door on the side of the building.

The history on this psychiatric center is murky, but its origins can be traced back as far as 1874. It functions as a psychiatric center to this day, although it's far more scaled back than it was in previous times. Many of the buildings on property have been repurposed for various uses throughout the years, while a handful have remained abandoned. Stepping into the former psychotic building, one of the first sights we were greeted with was stack upon stack of pine coffins. A disquieting reminder that many of the patients that called this building "home" never left.

The upper floors contained many seclusion and isolation rooms. The stairwells were caged off in certain areas in order to prevent movement of the patients, and the windows covered in heavy mesh and bars. The floors were extensively collapsed, and absolute concentration was required while walking from room to room.

Above: Collapse

Above: Desks

Above: Patient Room

Above: Self-Portrait

Taunton State Hospital

May 17th, 2009

Our journey to Massachusetts had started the evening of the 16th. Soldat picked me up from the local train station under a sky streaked with spring lightening and we headed into Philly to pick up Vincennes. After we got her, we hit the road and spent the next 6 hours keeping ourselves awake by talking about various abandoned locations. Anything to keep our minds off the task at hand.

In the exploring world, Taunton State Hospital's main Kirkbride building had a reputation as being one of the hardest places to crack. Before 2005, security at the hospital was virtually non-existent and one entered the building through one of many open doors. However, a $1 million anti-climb fence was constructed around the entire building in summer '05, and a fire swept through the main administration building in 2006. Following the fire, police in both marked and unmarked cars patrolled both inside and outside the fence and around the property. Rumors of motion activated flash cameras and other security countermeasures hung over the building like ghouls as the cops circled the fenceline like sharks waiting to tear into prey. You were guaranteed to be arrested if you were caught inside the fence. No questions asked.

After parking, our group began the short walk towards the hospital perimeter. Within 10 feet of the property line, an unmarked cop drove by. "He's coming back" I thought as I watched the tan Lincoln swing back around and approach us again. "Don't even think about going up to the hospital" the officer said as he rolled up. "Is it alright if we walk around and take pictures?" Soldat asked. "You can take pictures. But if you go inside the buildings i will arrest you" the cop said. With that in mind, we headed off and began walking the fenceline. Within another two minutes, a dark blue Crown Vic began following us at 2MPH around the building...Another cop.

At this point things were starting to look pretty bad. We drove around town for an hour or so, trying to figure out what to do. We hadn't just driven 6 hours to be turned away. The building was going to be demolished within the month, and we weren't going to be easily defeated. Soldat and Vincennes were down for trying again. I on the other hand was beginning to have bad second thoughts. My paranoia and fear were through the roof, and I decided to quit while i was ahead and let Soldat and Vinc go for it. They both got in successfully and started texting me pictures of all the awesome stuff inside. About two hours later, i accepted the fact i was completely insane and stupid. I parked the car, got my gear out, walked to the hospital perimeter and sprinted up to the hole in the fence as my compatriots watched the undercover in the Crown Vic.

I made it.

As far as Kirkbrides go this one wasn't particularly spectacular. Neoclassical architecture meant many cupolas, cast iron turrets and windows replete with bars for the more unstable patients. However, the true beauty of this hospital laid in its simplicity as well as its spectacular sunbridges that connected the infirmary wings. Construction began in 1851 and was completed in 1854, making this the fifth Kirkbride ever built. Sadly in 2009, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts set aside the $1.3 million necessary to raze the building, and the long history of one of the few Kirkbrides left came to an end.

Above: The raised Sunbridge that led between the Infirmary ward and the main Kirkbride building.

Above: Typical Bedroom

Above: Barber Chair

Above: Self-Portrait