Sep
21
2007
ALAN GUSTAFSON
Statesman Journal
September 11, 2007A group of local history buffs is seeking to have the Oregon State
Hospital campus in
Salem included on the National Register of Historic Places.
If the bid is successful, the prestigious listing wouldn’t bar state officials from tearing down hospital structures to make way for a planned new psychiatric facility.But building preservationists are determined to shine a spotlight on the issue. Ultimately, they want to persuade officials to consider retaining, instead of razing, many old hospital buildings.“It makes them go through a process before they demolish any of the buildings,” said Hazel Patton of
Salem, a leader of the group. “It’s a step to say, ‘Stop and think twice before you randomly go in there and tear down buildings.’”In a National Register nomination form submitted to the State Office of Historic Preservation, preservationists call for creation of a historic district encompassing nearly 50 state hospital buildings, all constructed between 1883 and the 1950s.Most prized by preservationists is the hospital’s biggest and oldest building, the 124-year-old J Building — used in filming of the 1975 movie classic “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” It reportedly is the oldest intact public building in
Salem and the oldest psychiatric hospital still being used on the West Coast.A state advisory committee will consider the group’s National Register bid in October. Approval would forward the proposed listing to federal officials in
Washington, D.C.Left uncertain is how the building-preservation push meshes, or conflicts, with state plans to build a new $250 million psychiatric facility on about 100 acres of the 144-acre hospital campus.Barring unforeseen problems, construction is scheduled to begin in 2009, with completion projected in 2011.The National Register nomination poses a tricky issue for state administrators who want to avoid construction delays and public controversy.“We really don’t have a position on it,” said Linda Hammond, hospital replacement administrator for the state Department of Human Services. “It’s something that they can do with or without us. We will work with the required processes, which we would be doing whether it was on the federal register or not.”Patton stressed that building preservationists don’t want to halt or delay construction of the planned psychiatric facility.“We absolutely believe that there should be a new facility for mental health treatment,” she said. “That’s not what we’re fighting. We’re fighting for the old buildings.”
Many hospital buildings, especially the J Building, ought to be converted for new uses by the state or private developers, Patton said.“Across the country, there are many old state hospitals, like ours, that have been saved and reused,” she said.
Hammond said decisions about razing or saving
Oregon’s old hospital buildings won’t be made until an architectural/engineering team is hired to help design the new facility.Plans call for architects and engineers to be hired within weeks, and the contractors are expected to deliver a “footprint” of the new psychiatric facility by next spring.Building-preservation ideas and requirements will receive attention from state administrators and hired specialists as they develop blueprints for the new facility,
Hammond said.“We’re really going to look for our experts to guide us through what we need to do and to make sure that we’re adhering to all the regulations,” she said.Fate of historic J Building unsettledIn 2005, state consultants deemed the J Building obsolete, unsafe and unfit for use as a psychiatric facility. They warned that it could collapse in an earthquake.Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, recently told the Statesman Journal that he favors razing much of the structure because of its decaying condition and to clear the way for the new psychiatric facility.Courtney said he wants to preserve a small part of the J Building for a museum and resting place for urns that hold the cremated remains of more than 3,000 patients who died at the hospital between the late 1880s and mid-1970s.Patton thinks it would be a mistake to level most of the J Building. Although long-vacant portions of the building appear to be in terrible condition, she said, the structure remains sturdy.“When you look beyond the peeling paint and the pigeon poop, you see that it’s still structurally sound,” she said.As Patton sees it, the 500,000-square-foot building should be converted for new uses; she envisions a rustic lodge, condominiums or office space. She thinks private developers would be keenly interested in the property, particularly if they could tap into federal tax credits and other advantages provided by a listing on the National Register.Shuttered state-run mental hospitals have been purchased, then revitalized or replaced, by private developers in
Oregon and elsewhere.In Wilsonville, 2,400 residences were built on the old
Dammasch
State
Hospital grounds. The site’s developer, Costa Pacific Communities, bought the land from the state in 1999.In
Massachusetts, the former
Danvers
State
Hospital was sold for $19 million to a developer now building a new neighborhood on a 75-acre site, including 433 luxury apartments and 64 condominiums.A group of preservationists spent years fighting the development, contending that the defunct hospital was historically significant and should be restored. A judge ruled against them. The developer agreed to save about a third of the main hospital building and demolished the rest.In
Salem,
Hammond said the fate of the J Building and other structures won’t be settled until project leaders come up with a detailed design and specific location for the new facility.Buildings rich with historyBuilding preservationists want the entire hospital campus included on the National Register, not just the J Building.“The entire campus tells the story of mental health in
Oregon,” Patton said. “You can’t just pick out one building. It’s the whole story and how it progressed over the years.”The state hospital opened in 1883. At that time, it was called the Oregon State Insane Asylum and located on the outskirts of
Salem.The facility was designed by Wilbur Boothby. He also built the Asahel Bush House and other
Salem landmarks, according to a National Register nomination packet prepared by Patton and other volunteers.“Many of our downtown buildings were designed by the same man who designed the J Building with the architects,” Patton said, referring to Boothby. “So there are huge ties between us, the
Salem community, and that state hospital.”The Oregon State Insane Asylum reflected a classic example of a model developed by Dr. Thomas Kirkbride of
Pennsylvania, who pioneered some of the
U.S.’s first architectural standards for mental hospitals.Giant Kirkbride-style mental hospitals were built across the country in the 19th century, according to research by Patton’s group.“These massive structures were conceived as ideal sanctuaries for the mentally ill in the latter half of the 19th century,” asserts the nomination form. “Careful attention was given to every detail of their design to promote a healthy environment to to convey a sense of respectable decorum. Placed in secluded areas within expansive grounds, many seemed almost palace-like from the outside. But growing populations and insufficient funding led to unfortunate conditions that spoiled their idealistic promise.”When
Oregon’s first mental hospital quickly became jammed with patients, officials rapidly expanded the facility, defying Kirkbride’s intent.“Kirkbride also envisioned that once an asylum reached the population capacity for which it was designed, optimally no more than 250 patients, a new, separate facility would be built elsewhere to accommodate additional patients,” asserts the group’s nomination document. “In the case of
Oregon, this model of dispersion proved unworkable, and the
Salem complex expanded steadily from the outset.”Over time, building expansions created what became known as the J Building, named for its inverted J shape.Dozens more hospital buildings popped up as the patient population swelled to more than 3,300 people by the 1950s.No new buildings have been erected since the mid-20th century. The hospital now houses fewer than 650 patients.Registry listing provides benefitsThe National Register was authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. It’s administered by the National Park Service.More than 80,000 sites make up the nation’s official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation.
Marion
County has more than 100 sites listed, including the state Capitol,
Chemawa
Indian
School, Thomas Kay Woolen Mill, Elsinore Theatre, Reed Opera House,
First
Methodist
Church and Asahel Bush House at Bush’s
Pasture
Park.According to the National Register Web site, inclusion contributes to preserving historic properties in symbolic and tangible ways. Among them:
- Recognition that a property is of significance to the nation, state or community.
- Eligibility for federal tax credits.
- Qualification for federal assistance for historic preservation.
Patton is optimistic about the state hospital campus gaining a spot on the National Register. In turn, she hopes that such a listing will spur state officials to embrace preservation ideas.“Once it’s put on the National Register, I’m hoping that (officials) will realize that this opens up a lot of doors for funding for the old buildings and also for assistance in how one retrofits or adapts the buildings to modern use,” she said.The state Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation is scheduled to consider the group’s nomination bid at its Oct. 15-16 meeting in
Roseburg.Patton said she plans to attend the meeting, along with other group members.
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As a resident, living facing the hospital grounds a quarter mile from
Building J. And as a dog walker most everyday on the grounds
passing building J. I have met a lot of people, we stop to talk.
Many times the subject turns to the history of buildings, more
often talk turns to building J. To visit, maybe the oldest Victorian
Commercial building in Salem would be a very special event. Since
I love history of old building, diners, cafes, hotels, Route 66 and
Blue highways. I have mixed feeling of the demise of Building J,
One so old and one so close to my daily life. It was built to house
and improve the lives of the patients. It now, does not do that.
Peresvation should have started 30 or 40 years ago. Now it’s sad
to look at it. Trying to get many more people behind it and the
Right people behind saving a State treasure is I think a little late!
Paul Jarmusz
I drive by the mental hospital everyday on my way into town and every morning on my way to school.
Its such an amazing piece of Salem’s history that I can’t imagine it being torn down, though I do understand the need for an updated facility.
Even if the entire builing j could not be saved (though it would be wonderful if it was), if the entrance and maybe one wing could be saved, I would settle for it.
Hello. I have read up on all History of this Building.For me as a person of respect and that has respect for Salem’s past history I’m not seeing much of it left.. I drive by this building everyday and I have so such respect for the “Mah he Tah” and Numbers of years it’s been around.in this day of age(s) I’m less and less Historical places in this world to date.more and more knocking down and building a Parking lots. how can we Preserve Salem’s history is we keep knocking Salem’s history down.
if anyone would like to contact me.
http://www.myspace.com/theonlyrealsketch
and a Fan site i made for the Respect of this specific building
http://www.myspace.com/oregonstatementalhospital