3,698 Comments Posted by Motts

Yup. Grab a space heater, hot plate and a TV and you're set!

Hard to say why the power is still on. The buildings were in such good shape we thought it was possible the security guard was doing rounds inside the place, but if the buildings are officially "condemned," I imagine guards aren't permitted to go inside due to liability concerns (although some do anyway).

That train of thought reminds of Byberry too; we had cops literally yelling at us 50 feet away, but they wouldn't step inside the place. Then, of all people, a building inspector plunges to his death on a rusted stairwell, so there you go. What a crazy place that was.

Yup that is the stipulation in the deed - the property can only become another hospital, or a public park. Lots of developers lamenting that one, I'm sure.

That would be pretty fantastic!

The city spends about $127,000 a year in "upkeep;" I presume that's for the security guard, but the power bill might be included.

Thanks! Cool yeah I've got some places marked over there but haven't tried them yet; there's Fort Adams in Newport and Dutch Island looks interesting...

Looks like a fire extinguisher system; these weren't required back in 1914, so they were piped in below the ceilings to avoid costly renovation work. The building was also given extra stairwells to bring it up to code.

Yep, whatever bulbs were still working were illuminated. Although the power house was shut down, the buildings were still hooked up to the grid for whatever reason...

No, I've never made it over there.

I believe the square box on the ceiling is a light.

Nah... it looks painted shut too.

I'm guessing it's a door to a circuit breaker panel. The small door would let someone safely reset a breaker, and the large one for a service worker to access the components under the panel, without having to break through the wall.

The access hole was more of an opening for the infrastructure for the building (HVAC, electricity, etc); a bit of a squeeze and you dropped into the sealed up bowling alley on the lower floor. A super fun way to get in!

Darlene - I thought the same when I stumbled upon my first one, but they have since kept popping up in other psychiatric hospitals. I suppose it's been proven to be a pretty safe, fun indoor sport that can appeal to many people.

Iceberg - the extensions on the building may have once been outdoor solaria, open to the weather (judging from the downspouts protruding from the facade), but have been transformed into indoor space. They appeared to be common/day rooms, with the narrow bedrooms lining the recessed wall.

Nicole - many of the closed buildings had these number unceremoniously spray painted on them; I presume they are building numbers that correspond to campus maps, to help identify structures on-site for the maintenance / redevelopment teams.

Occupational Therapy is some kind of hobby or work that would help the patient acquire a skill for a job when released from the hospital. Back in the day, this typically involved basket weaving, sewing, shoe making, mechanical repair, farming, etc. If the products weren't used at the hospital, the institution would often sell them to supplement funding.

The actual treatment itself seemed to be performed in a smaller room with a red door. I would imagine this area had beds / stretchers and allowed the patients to recover.