2,174 Comments for Bennett School for Girls

wow, amazing. Thank you Felicity for your documentation. I am just a bit confused, the entire building IS down now? Obviously it is mostly gone, but I am surprised the chimneys were left standing. Seems like they would be unstable unsupported by the frame of the building. I venture they must have SOME plans for preserving at least the bases of them? And it appears the stone base and arches are to be saved as well?
I see among the salvaged items are a balustrade [that seems in amazingly good condition] I'd guess it was from the portion that was enclosed within the auditorium of the 50's era portion, for it to be in that good shape, the rest had been splintered and rotten for years.
I see some exterior carved brackets, as well as a portion of scrollwork from the inset half timbered panels that centered each gable. This appears from the courtyard portion, the front facades lost the lathed portion years ago. I am quite surprised they are salvaging anything at all, there is [was!] so little 'fabric' left intact here. And that does appear to be the skylight from the elevator, but maybe from the 1920's wing.
You can see atop the brick elevator shaft, which was installed c. 1908, where it's skylight sat. The actual elevator itself is from a much older era than Halcyon, it was an antique black iron "birdcage" style. It actually looked kind of sinister, not to mention hazardous as hell. Wonder if they fished that elevator out of the shaft, or will? Anyway, all of these components should be saved if possible, for posterity, and perhaps incorporated as part of an interpretive history that might be part of this parcel's conversion. But they may just end up being sold, or whatever. No great loss, the real gems of this place were brazenly stolen years ago. There is certain superb fireplace in particular from here that mysteriously graces a nearby property. But I guess possession is 9/10th's of the law, eh? Then again at least it was saved, I suppose.

In any event, it is a little heartening that someone at least saw a bit of value, historic or otherwise, in a small few architectural details left to save on her dying day. Hope it bodes well for the conversion to parkland, and that as much care is taken about it.
It cost HJ Davison Jr. a million dollars to build Halcyon Hall. Much more is now being spent to raze it. Unconverted dollars, of course, but it just underscores the poetically stupid disregard we have had for many historical resources in our country. I do think it is changing, however, the loss of a place such as this is the illustrative example that convinces, alas much too late to save. That it's passing allows Millbrook's other major landmark to live on restored is a good degree of consolation, certainly the best under the circumstances, but it does not lessen the regretful shame of it's disappearance collectively for Millbrook. I'd say it is a lesson learned for sure, and is demonstrated by this entire project's RESOLUTION, at least, to carry through, and on. But it is certainly bittersweet, and poignant, for just about everyone I'd say, probably even many of the gentlemen actually taking the wrecker to it, I'd venture.
I love that it didn't go down easy, both in demolition, and in its 45 years of splendorous abandonment. For that, I toast: Hail Halcyon Hall.

OMG just the towers HUH complete disbelief great pics hopefully I can be there in Oct

Felicity,

Thank you so much for doing this for us all. So sad to see her end come, even though we knew it was coming, just hard to see it still. She stood proudly for a long, long time & now, she rests in peace. We'll always have galleries of photos & videos to look back on her with, just won't be the same knowing she is no longer with us.

R.I.P. Halcyon Hall. Goodbye, Ms. Bennett.

Well, that's all folks. Could the last one out turn off the lights when they leave?

https://tinyurl.com/mrxrnhn9

That was Saturday. I went down on Friday, expecting to see that, but I guess I was a day early. I took pictures anyways, and met a Bennett alum who stopped by as I was leaving. I planned on taking a drone video, with a different one, since my first is still in pieces. However, the exact same thing started happening, in the exact same place. When I got it back, it appeared to be perfectly functional, aside from not responding to any outside input. All I can do is shrug, and tell you that I'm sorry there's no video this time, but some force has decided that for me, Bennett is a no-fly zone. Anyways, here are Halcyon's final pictures.

https://imgur.com/a/pdnCB0e

I suppose through history a lot of people have felt as we do. It still makes no sense to let something like that building go like that.

Felicity,

Thank you for doing this again, seeing her as she is in those photos is a shock to the system. That plaque at the end there, yeah, it's night & day.

my post on utube says it all many thanx again

Iceberg, wanderer, and flushed, it's my pleasure. I'm making sure to keep everyone updated in these final weeks, including some Bennett alums. I went down again today, and managed to get what I needed despite the weather. They've stopped at Halcyon's west wing, and moved on to Gage Hall for some reason. It's apparently constructed entirely different from how Halcyon is, with bricks and I-beams, from what I've seen. I think it must be giving them more trouble than they bargained for, because while they've made significant progress in the last week, they've only managed to demo half of what they did on Halcyon in the same time frame.

https://imgur.com/a/L2kWh9m

https://youtu.be/PgxxWwgRYXk

yes it was pretty and having the old girl there was a reassurace of the old days- still the the new generation never knew her but maybe a new generation of Opacity will Phoenix from her ashes as WE have

Thank you for the pictures and yt link.
Seeing that brook only makes it seem worse they let it go. That must have been great to walk in in the summer.

all i could do was look in unbelief the behemoth Queen is gone !!!!!! as you say we had her longer than planned and watches thru the years he rmagnificent decay soooo happy you took the time to get the footage for those of us stuck in the midwest and elsewhere what to happen to the board we have been on for decades where to now???? now to find someone to copy it --farewell old Queen again many thanx for the footage fellow Halcyonite

Felicity,

Thank you again for that update, however sad it is for us, those were some great photos & the video was nice as well. They are moving fast & the part of her scent, I'd take it as her saying it's ok, I'll know I'll be missed, but, now you have a memory scent to remember me by. Not only have you seen me & heard me, now you've gotten to take in a smell of my true self. I could be putting too much into that thought, but, just a thought there. While it's sad her end has come, at least we had her for as long as we did.

Goodbye, Halcyon Hall, Ms. Bennett. You've been loved by so many.

I've got news. Not much of it is good though. The only good thing that came from today was that I captured a lot of content for you all. I tucked up under one of the big old pine trees in front of the driveway, so I got a front row seat to what they were doing, and stayed there until they were done for the day. Either I managed to turn invisible, or the workers just didn't care, because no one paid me any attention. After they all left, I got pictures from every angle I could think of.

Nigh unrecognizable. That's all I can say about how Halcyon looks from the courtyard looking southwest now. The entire east wing is basically rubble piles, as well as half of the middle section. I also arrived to a nasty surprise. Hale House is gone. I guess they threw out whatever plans they had to make it a visitor's center. That means that every part of Bennett that wasn't repurposed back in the eighties has been, or is being, erased. To say I'm displeased is an understatement.

Watching Halcyon be torn down was a very upsetting experience, and I owe it to my composure that I didn't start crying while filming. Though every sound of falling stone and rending board broke my heart more and more. Still, she refused to go down without a fight. Despite the machinery tearing into the structure, nothing collapsed of its own volition. Even without anything surrounding them, the chimneys still stood tall. Another thing that I won't forget is the smell. The wind was blowing towards me, and it didn't smell like when the dorms were taken down, or the mold and poison that people who've gone inside have told about. Instead, it smelled of freshly sawn wood and antiques. That was the worst part. It was almost as if she still had life left to give, despite everything, but it didn't matter anymore at that point.

Anyways, sorry about that rant. Back to business. Wanderer, you're very likely right that the place will be bare by October, but you'll have a park you can visit instead. It'll be a very lovely place for a park. I'm posting the links to today's pictures and videos at the bottom. I apologize in advance for the quality of the video. That camera can take good shots, but I guess asking for good video out of something that cheap and old is a little much. I won't be able to make it back until Monday, so I'll hope there's still something standing then. Hopefully I'll be able to finish repairing my drone by then as well.

https://imgur.com/a/gMtjWva

https://youtu.be/oPdFppeL8W4

thanks -i dont do social media so will half hearted look at them guess by Oct the place will be bear

Thanks for the update Pat. The pictures are up on almost every Facebook page related to Millbrook, but I just can't bear to look. I suppose I'll head down either tomorrow or the day after. I'll get some shots and videos for you all.

R.I.P. Halcyon Hall. This fate was not deserved, but necessary nonetheless.