
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Barring Your Dreams of the World Outside

Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Worcester State Hospital
Friday, August 8, 2008
Kirkbride Revisited
Since I had to go to the Bryan Building for a meeting today, I decided to stop and take some photos of what little is left of Worcester State. The woman I met with, Anne Azier who is the head of nursing, showed me the electronic slide show of the new hospital plan that is being shown in the lobby of the Bryan Building. The state of the art facility will sprawl across the entire campus, right behind the Clocktower which is one of two buildings that will not be demolished (the other is the Hooper Turret, one of the round day rooms to the left of the Clocktower). The new complex will hold 326 beds and a portion of it resembles a mini Kirkbride from the sky.
Copper Rain
This photo is strikingly reminiscent of the cuppola at Northampton State Hospital. The cuppolas are made of copper and are therefore worth quite a bit of money, so they are very often salvaged and sold during demolition.
An Old Friend Injured
Demolition began on Worcester State Hospital about three months ago. I was there today for an interview in the Bryan Building and of course stopped to watch the progress of construction. The piece above is all that is left of the wards. One small corner, only four walls, is all that still stands and it won't be there much longer.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Solid State
Yellow Submarine

Irony
Changing Administration

The Long Drive Home

The Speed of Decay
The Grass is Greener

The Foggy Dew

Spirits at Play

Class Dismissed
Monday, August 4, 2008
What Do You See in the Clouds, Son?

Imposing of Morals

Looking to Heaven
The Color of Advancement

Hypomania

Mania
Hallway to Hell

We Were In Hiding
Saturday, August 2, 2008
The Art of Keeping Them Safe

Shattered in More Ways Than One

The Snow Bed

The Collapse of an Age

Morgue Door and the Story of My Life

To Be Demolished
In the Ward, Amongst the Bones

There was very little left inside the wards at Worcester State Hospital when I finally got the opportunity to see them. This folding chair, photographed by perhaps hundreds of other explorers, was one of the few sparks of color that spoke to me. In a sunlit ward room sat this chair that presumably a patient once sat in, or perhaps a staff member while monitoring a patient who could not be left alone. It's difficult to say really, what the purpose was but one can only imagine how many different individuals had sat in this chair that has now become just another pile of rubble.