Aaahhhhh...Bless the little fellow! You could write a children's adventure story about a colony of raccoons or squirrels or something who lived in a disused building complex- maybe not a mental hospital, granted, but perhaps a school or a cinema.
These shots remind me of that bit in 'Escape From New York', when Snake Plisken (Kurt Russell) finds 'Cabbie' (Ernest Borgnine) enjoying a shabby vaudeville performance with his fellow convicts in a decaying Broadway theatre lit by candlelight.
Surely the mezzanine area must have been for staff- there's no way they'd risk patients killing themselves jumping over the edge! It'd also be a good lookout point, to keep an eye on all that went on below.
we used to have a system here in England in our big old mental hospitals, whereby potentially dangerous inmates were put in promenade rooms like this for excercise. They'd be located in the middle, with a nurse or orderly at each end. That way they could be kept a watch over, whilst allowing the staff time to get out and lock the door behind them if the patient suddenly took a run at them. Maybe that's why the chair in this picture is in the middle of the corridor??
Hey, don't lump all kids in one generalisation. I don't qualify as a kid any more but when I was 16 I wouldn't of dreamed of doing something so disrespectful. I love old buildings like this. Thanks for the great photos Mr Motts! They're a way of keeping these places alive once they are finally gone and you've really got a unique perspective.
Why did they leave so many newish, serviceable extinguishers around? presumably the place is still patrolled occasionally- maybe they need to still have the wherewithall to fight a blaze in case of arson.
Do all American toilets have those horseshoe seats on them? Whilst we have them here in the UK as well, they're unusual- ours are mostly complete circle seats (though the horseshoe design is more hygienic, there's less chance of men weeing on the front edge!!)
Very poignant- some poor ill person did that, long ago, to claim a moment of sense in a storm-tossed soul...bless them.
Stock it may be, but even so they've done the colouring and shading very well- look at the texture they've given to the background, and the grading of the colour on the butterfly's wings. Mott, if you ever return there, do you think you could salvage this pic and send it to me? I'd like to have it.