234 Comments Posted by rich_edwards79

That water tower *rules*.

Whereabouts is this place in relation to Boston?

That is a fantastically Gothic shot.

Suddenly I have a mental image of stepping out of a door onto a floor that isn't there, looking around unhappily for a couple of seconds Sylvester-style, before plunging to the bottom with a little puff of smoke, just like in the old cartoons...

On second thoughts, I'm glad it only happens in cartoons :-)

Twug, from what I've read about the Danvers proposals, the outer buildings are all to be demolished and the Kirkbride badly mutilated. The roof and top floor will be removed and a new roof fitted, and the wings cut right back, almost to the main building.

And they call this preservation - it's a criminal act of wanton vandalism, nothing more. I can't remember the URL of the page I saw this on but I think it may be one of the Danvers preservation groups linked from the main Danvers page of Motts' site.

I can't help thinking that if we had buildings like this in England, they'd be so well-protected that the developers wouldn't be able to paint the walls a different colour without fillingout twenty forms in triplicate. That's how strict we are here about things like this. Too damn right I say.

is Danvers on the National Register of Historic Places? And if so, what weight does this carry in planning terms?

They really don't make 'em like they used to. Such a shame that this will soon be lost forever.

One day we'll wake up and realise that our architectural history consists of corrugated tin supermarkets and flat-pack housing, because anything of any value has long since been ton down.

I'm not quite such a purist as Twug (though I understand her dislike of this stuff) in that I don't consider all graffiti to be unattractive and without merit. Some 'urban art' undoubtedly requires considerable graphical ability. However there is definitely a time and a place for it, and this is not it, especially as the work itself is of the crudest, ugliest type. As someone else said, no doubt scrawled by some wannabe gangsta (read bored white middle-class kid trying to impress his pals....)

This room reminds me of the 'candy cane dungeon' at Pennhurst and although it's naturally lit, it's almost as creepy...

Good grief.

Quite a shock, I'd imagine, to push open a door or turn a corner and suddenly find yourself staring down a yawning, three-storey hole!

Another admin building, another beautiful stairwell. Deja vu anyone?

"perspective" "think" even....

The perspectiv on this is incredible. It's leading my eye somewhere I don't hink it want's to go....

Wow.

Looks more like Freddy Krueger's chair :D

And Twug, I'm with you on the 'lonely chair' book. It's the lighting that makes these shots.

Lynne, I think you need to get yourself along to Danvers before they turn it into a yuppie zoo and see if you can 'liberate' some of the artefacts (with permission, of course...)

I bet this place was scary even when it was open. Hardly Six Flags is it? :-)

Add a muzzle and you're away :D

Almost looks as though the lights are on... I know it's just the way the light from the window is hitting them, but this place didn't have power, did it?

(Scary thought with all that water about!)