Comments

Does anyone else see the screaming personified wall through the door?

I see a really creepy face there formed by the handles and the descending/ascending stairs. Love this photo.

A little WD40, and this baby will be good as new

Did you mess with any of these buttons?

I think I stepped in something.....

Who's up for a game of billiards?

Very a-peel-ing!

An atmosphere of sadness surrounds this whole place, meaning the asylum in general.

I have seen so much photos containing stuff that is simply left to rot and rust away, why not give it away instead?

Why not fix this building up and use it for something else? A school for example or a hospital, I am sure people could find some use for this building, rather then letting it deteriorate and rot away.

Ofcourse it could also be that the entire place is in such a bad condition then that there is no option other then to demolish a big part of it, rather sad in my opinion...

An atmosphere of sadness and depression always seems to surround abandoned hospital, assylums and schools...

@Pookie, Former Patient-That's OK about the typo-you never know about computers; sometimes strange things happen! Give me a pencil and paper, the old fashioned way, any day! : )

I'm sorry that so many of you former residents at the Gaebler went through such awful times. It should have been a place of healing, not hurt. I am a Certified Music Therapist (CMT), and have worked with many populations of clients, including psychiatric patients. One of my internships was at McClean Hospital in Belmont, MA-this was a very good facility that truly cared for its residents. I really wished that I could have been a Music Therapist at the Gaebler, because I really wanted to help you all! Please know that, in my heart, I would have liked to provide a caring, therapeutic environment for all of you! May God Bless you! : )

I don't know what it is about this pic...the last pic didn't have that effect on me, but this one...I don't know!

In an effort to "de-institutionalize" places, they were referred to as residents or consumers. Also, some people with mental illness often do something called "posturing" meaning they will "strike a pose"...sometimes for quite a long time. From what I gather, it can be attributed to their diagnosis such as having OCD and having to do something because that action is "attached" to something else happening. You know, like a butterfly causes a ripple on a pond in Asia and it ends up as a tidal wave in Hawaii. Also, sometime their voices tell them to do certain things.

Thanks again Mr. Motts for the info...again I commend your memories attention to detail!

Wow, awesome that you can remember these details. I am surprised that the windows did not have a safety screen on them. Thanks for the info.

Marie ,
The message that was just posted on 7/5/2010 was from me, I am sorry, I don't know how your name got on it that you posted it sorry again. And I have been inside there quite a few times and took lots of pictures and OMG!! I can't believe all the things that I have seen, it's friggin scary, the place is trashed, and there are rooms that I never knew about, can't believe we had to endure such a life, we weren't patients as my husband would say we were inmates & victims...

I live in Waltham and I was also a patient at Gaebler, I go by it all the time,, it was not a fun place to be at or anything that helped heal us children, we were mentally and physically abused and treated like we were nothing, so getting out of there was the best thing for everyone who has ever been a patient there, and now that they are at some point going to take the building down, can only now help us heal. I believe that are going to be putting up condo's or townhouse or both, that is what Waltham does when they tear down a mental institition, they did it to a cronically ill and mentally ill place like 30 seconds up the hill, I forget the name of it, but, that is now all townhouses. But, I don't know if us patients/kids will ever be able to have complete clousure even thou the building will be torn down, but,as usual Waltham is taking thier time. I hope that your stay there was better than mine....