Norwich State Hospital

In October, 1904 when the hospital first opened, it held 95 patients and was a single building. The facility quickly outgrew its meager beginnings, and by fall of 1905, it held 151 patients and had expanded its housing by adding two additional buildings. The original building was soon converted to administrative offices.{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/60160903/|title=The Bridgeport Post from Bridgeport, Connecticut on January 7, 1968 · Page 53|website=Newspapers.com|date=January 7, 1968 }} In 1907, a third patient building was opened, and over the next eight years, there would be the addition of thirteen structures to the grounds.Corey Sipe, "Associated Content", 11/02/2006, 06/06/2010 The hospital began to branch out, no longer creating housing intended only for patients, but for hospital physicians, a laboratory, an employees club, a main kitchen and various other structures to support the every-day workings of the hospital. Like most mental hospitals at that time, it was self-sufficient, a barn, two garages, a paint shop and a greenhouse were also added. By the end of the 1930s, over twenty buildings had been added to the grounds.{{Cite web |url=http://www.abandonedasylum.com/nshhistory.html |title=History of Norwich State Hospital to 1972 |access-date=2010-06-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100917141013/http://abandonedasylum.com/nshhistory.html |archive-date=2010-09-17 |url-status=dead }}

To provide an identification system, each building was originally assigned a letter name. The original campus had ward buildings grouped in pairs and designated as "North" for female patients or "South" for male patients. Around 1940, each building was given a name in honor of the founding superintendents of the American Psychiatric Association and well-known mental health advocates such as Thomas Story Kirkbride and Dorothea Dix.{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/institutionalcar01hurd|title=The institutional care of the insane in the United States and Canada|first1=Henry Mills|last1=Hurd|first2=William Francis|last2=Drewry|first3=Richard Smith|last3=Dewey|first4=Charles Winfield|last4=Pilgrim|first5=G. Alder (George Alder)|last5=Blumer|first6=Thomas Joseph Workman|last6=Burgess|date=22 October 2017|publisher=Baltimore, Md., The Johns Hopkins press|via=Internet Archive}} Later buildings were named after recognized contributors to the hospital, including Connecticut governors Abraham Ribicoff and John Davis Lodge. The Ronald H. Kettle Center opened in 1960 as the new medical-surgical facility and was the largest building on the property. Built like a general hospital, it reflected the then-modern belief that mental illness could be treated biologically on a short-term stay, thus reducing the need for antiquated long-term care wards. The Ribicoff Research Center was built perpendicular to Kettle to facilitate the discovery of new treatment techniques. Gradually, as the number of patients and employees began to decrease, when a new structure was built, an older one would be closed, and by the early 1970s, only 7 of the original buildings were still in use, the others used for either storage or abandoned completely.{{cite web|url=https://opacity.us/site64_norwich_state_hospital.htm|title=Norwich State Hospital|website=Opacity.us|date=January 2, 2006 |accessdate=20 May 2019}} As the process of deinstitutionalization progressed, a new law required all patients' cases to be reviewed every two years. This, along with threats of strike from the union, lead to the hospital vacating many more of its buildings in 1979. By the time the hospital closed in 1996, only a fraction of the campus was still operating. All patients were now housed in the Kettle building along with geriatric patients in Seymour. The Gallup building continued to house the Boneski Treatment Center for chemical dependency, and other buildings still in use up to closure included Administration, Lodge, Russell, Ribicoff, the chapel, utility buildings, and employee housing facilities across the street.

Due to the large number to structures and the hundreds of acres they stood on, the majority of buildings were connected by a series of underground passageways. The main purpose of these tunnels were for the utilities, however, they were often used to transport patients from one area to another. In the mid 2000's, the tunnels became a means of transportation for trespassers who hope to explore the grounds of the hospital undetected by the security officers who have been hired by the state to patrol the vacant site.{{cite web|url=https://opacity.us/article72_better_security_sought_at_norwich_hospital.htm|title=Better security sought at Norwich Hospital - Norwich State Hospital|website=Opacity.us|accessdate=20 May 2019}}

• 1904-Established as Norwich State Hospital for the Insane, patient population was 95
• 1904-Henry M. Pollock, M.D. became Superintendent
• 1905-Establishment of a training school for nurses
• 1913-Patient population was 998
• 1916-Patient population was 1,227
• 1917-Franklin Wilcox, M.D. became Superintendent
• 1918-Patient population was 1,231
• 1920-Patient population was 1,341
• 1926-Name was changed to Norwich State Hospital
• 1928-Elijah S. Burdsall, M.D. became Superintendent
• 1929-Patient population was 2,175
• 1930-Patient population was 2,422, training school for nurses closed due to inability to meet the standards of the State Board of Nurse Examiners
• 1934-Chester A. Waterman, M.D. became Superintendent
• 1939-Patient population was 2,918.
• 1939-Governor Baldwin and the State Legislature form the Commission on the Treatment and Care of People Afflicted with Physical or Mental Disabilities. First order of business was the investigation of conditions at Norwich State Hospital.
• 1940-William A. Bryan, M.D. became Superintendent
• 1941-For the first time since opening, discharges of patients (917) exceeded the admissions of patients (626)
• 1942-Superintendent Bryan responds to the staffing crisis during World War II by using conscientious objectors Carini, Esta, et al. The Mentally Ill in Connecticut: Changing Patterns of Care and the Evolution of Psychiatric Nursing 1636-1972. Hartford : State of Connecticut, Dept. of Mental Health, 1974. p. 178-179.Sareyan, Alex. The Turning Point: How Men of Conscience Brought About Major Change in the Care of America's Mentally Ill. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Press, 1994.
• 1942-Superintendent Bryan employs selected patients to serve as "patient attendants" during World War II Connecticut. Norwich Hospital for the Insane. Report of the Norwich Hospital for the Insane to the Governor for the twenty-four months ended June 30, 1942. Hartford, Conn., 1942. State of Connecticut Public Document no. 51.
• 1945-Riley H. Guthrie, M.D. became Superintendent
• 1948-Ronald H. Kettle, M.D. became Superintendent
• 1953-Administratively transferred to the Department of Mental Health
• 1955-Patient population was 3,184 (highest annual average in hospital's history)
• 1960-Patient population was 2,685
• 1961-Renamed Norwich Hospital
• 1966-Morgan Martin, M.D. became Superintendent
• 1972-Patient population was 1,148
• 1978-Francis K. Hayes became Superintendent
• 1984-Luigi Saracino M.D. became Superintendent
• 1985-Garrell S. Mullaney became Superintendent
• 1988-National Register of Historic Places listing
• 1994-Total beds were 649
• 1996-Andrew S. Phillips became Superintendent
• 1996-Norwich Hospital was officially closed and remaining patients were transferred to Connecticut Valley Hospital

• Fifteen physician's cottages, a power house, kitchen, and laundry building were constructed in the 1950s.
• Numerous cottages, a trade school, firehouse, carpenter and maintenance shop, club house, staff house, greenhouse, and garages were constructed on the campus.
• Numerous farm buildings were demolished in the 1970s after the hospital discontinued its agricultural therapy.

The hospital was listed on the National Register in 1988. The NRHP listing included 40 contributing buildings and two contributing structures on 70 acres. It includes work by architects Cudworth & Woodworth. It includes Colonial Revival and Late Gothic Revival architecture.

The district was deemed historically significant as illustrating a historic view of mental health treatment.{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=87002424}} |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Norwich Hospital |author1=Bruce Clouette |author2=Matthew Roth |author3=John Herzan |name-list-style=amp |date=March 24, 1987 |publisher=National Park Service}} and {{NRHP url|id=87002424|title=accompanying photos|photos=y}}

In 1996, when Norwich State Hospital was closed, the State Department of Public Works (DPW) became responsible for the property. In 2005, after several unsuccessful attempts to sell the property, The DPW proposed the sale of {{convert|419|acre}} of the former hospital's campus to the town of Preston, and {{convert|61|acre}} to the town of Norwich for one dollar. Both towns were given three years to close the transfer of the property.[http://www.opacity.us/article32_norwich_hospital_sale_press_release.html] {{dead link|date=May 2019}}

In March, 2009, the town of Preston purchased {{convert|390|acre}} of the property offered to them by the state. In spring of 2009, the Preston Redevelopment Agency was created to oversee the development of the newly acquired property. According to the sale agreement, the state would provide for the security presence, maintenance and insurance of the property until March, 2010, at which point the town of Preston would take responsibility for the cost of these, as well as begin the property cleanup.[http://worldcat.org/arcviewer/2/CZL/2010/01/25/H1264432704054/viewer/file2.html] {{dead link|date=May 2019}}

Since the DPW first made an offer to the town of Preston to purchase a portion of the Norwich State Hospital, several proposals have been submitted for the use of the property. One of the earliest proposals was submitted by Utopia Studios, and was approved in May 2006. Utopia promised an entertainment complex consisting of a theme park, 4,200 hotel rooms, a performing arts school and a movie studio. The projected cost of this project was around $1.6 billion and was viewed favorably by the voters. However, in November of the same year, the proposal was canceled by the town due to Utopia missing several key deadlines and, most importantly, failing to place $53 million in escrow as agreed.

In 2008, two developers, Northlang Investment Corporation and Preston Gateway Partners LLC, sought for approval to develop the land. The town accepted Northland's proposal for a billion-dollar luxury resort, but in November 2008, this plan was ended as well. Since then, eight additional developers have submitted proposals to develop the property, but as of March 2010 no agreement has been reached.[http://www.opacity.us/article123_preston_takes_over_at_hospital_site.html] {{dead link|date=May 2019}}[http://www.opacity.us/article28_utopia_deal_hinges_on_anticipated_documents.html] {{dead link|date=May 2019}}

The property, which has become known as the Preston Riverwalk, had been considered for a project by the town's parks and recreation department. This would have included a public access park for bird-watching, fishing and various other outdoor activities. On May 13, 2016, the Mohegan Tribe reached an agreement with Town of Preston to purchase the land. According to the Hartford Courant,{{cite web|url=https://www.courant.com/business/hc-mohegan-norwich-state-hospital-20160513-story.html|title=Mohegan Tribe Reaches Agreement To Buy Former Hospital Site|first=KENNETH R.|last=GOSSELIN|website=Courant.com|date=13 May 2016 |accessdate=20 May 2019}} the land will be used "for office, retail, entertainment, recreation and possibly housing." It will not become tribal land, meaning that whatever is built there will be a source of state and local tax revenue.

The Norwich State Hospital is listed on both the state and national historic register as a place of architectural and historical significance and thus many of the buildings, grounds, and infrastructure can not be removed (or even cleaned of medical waste material) without exception from both state and federal historical authorities.

Demolition on the property began in Spring 2011, with the intentional caving-in of the service tunnels surrounding the Administration building. The Salmon, Awl, and the Cafeteria-Theater buildings were demolished by end of 2011. In 2012, the Ribicoff, the Power Plant, Chapel buildings along with several cottages were demolished. Demolition continued through November 2014, exposing the interior stairwell of the Kettle building which was featured in The Day.{{cite web | url=http://www.theday.com/local/20141118/not-much-left-of-former-norwich-hospital-building | title=Not much left of former Norwich Hospital building | publisher=The Day | date=November 18, 2014 | accessdate=December 3, 2014 | author=Martin, Day}} All interior roadways were stripped of asphalt by mid-late 2018 and a major excavation commenced near the site of the Lodge building.

The Administration Building has been weatherized to prevent further decay and will be saved for future development.{{cite web |author=John Barry |title=Preston tour shows far fewer buildings at hospital site |url=http://www.norwichbulletin.com/article/20140607/News/140609385/?Start=1 |website=Norwichbulletin.com}} In late 2020 the discovery of buried coal ash and its mandated remediation have required more funding to complete the cleanup. By August 2021, all buildings on the Preston side of the campus have been demolished except for the Ray, Gallup, and Mitchell buildings.{{Citation needed|date=December 2018}} A time capsule was discovered within the Russell Occupational Therapy building. The Preston Redevelopment Agency proposed transferring this time capsule to the local historical society.{{Cite web |last=Charpentier |first=Roberta |date=March 8, 2023 |title=Preston Redevelopment Agency, Regular Meeting Minutes, March 8, 2023 |url=https://www.preston-ct.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_03082023-2290}}

Preston Redevelopment Agency stated in October 2023 that all remaining structures would stand until the property is transferred to the Mohegan Tribe. The Mohegan Tribe stated that the only structure that will be preserved once development begins is the Administration building.{{Cite web |last=Charpentier |first=Roberta |title=Preston Redevelopment Agency, Regular Meeting Minutes, October 11, 2023 |url=https://www.preston-ct.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_10112023-2469 |website=Preston, CT Website}} As of May 2024, remediation activities continue at the site.{{Cite web |last=Charpentier |first=Roberta |date= |title=Preston Redevelopment Agency, Regular Meeting Minutes, April 10, 2024 |url=https://www.preston-ct.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_04102024-2625 |access-date= |website=Preston, CT Website}}

Episodes two and four of season one of VH1's Celebrity Paranormal Project were filmed at the mental hospital though most likely to protect the place it was referred to as Warson Asylum for the Criminally Insane during both episodes.

The Norwich State Hospital was featured in the TV series Life After People, in the episode titled "Crypt of Civilization", which aired on January 19, 2010.

Syfy Channel's Ghost Hunters paranormal investigating team explored the location in their sixth season which aired May 5, 2010.{{Cite web |url=http://www.monstersandcritics.com/smallscreen/news/article_1553191.php/Syfy-s-Ghost-Hunters-finale-Norwich-State-preview |title=Syfy's Ghost Hunters finale, Norwich State preview - Monsters and Critics |access-date=2010-05-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004232036/http://www.monstersandcritics.com/smallscreen/news/article_1553191.php/Syfy-s-Ghost-Hunters-finale-Norwich-State-preview |archive-date=2012-10-04 |url-status=dead }}

• National Register of Historic Places listings in New London County, Connecticut

{{Reflist}}

{{commons category|Norwich State Hospital}}

• [http://opacity.us/site64_norwich_state_hospital.htm Extensive documentation of abandoned campus]
• [http://kingstonlounge.blogspot.com/2008/04/norwich-state-hospital-salmon-male.html Salmon (male forensic) building] Photoessay on the building reserved for male patients deemed "not guilty by reason of insanity" in court.
• [http://www.forbidden-places.net/urban-exploration-Norwich-State-Hospital Beautiful photographs from Norwich State Hospital (2007)]
• [https://juliannemangin.com/category/norwich-state-hospital/ Research into Norwich State Hospital by individual with four ancestors who were patients at the hospital]
• Rockledge, Christine. [https://www.amazon.com/Norwich-State-Hospital-Images-America-ebook/dp/B07HRYWTR2/ Norwich State Hospital].  Introduction by Steve DePolito.  Mt. Pleasant: SC:  Arcadia Publishing, 2018.  Images of America series.

{{Hospitals in Connecticut}}{{Connecticut Psychiatric Hospitals}}

{{National Register of Historic Places}}

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Category:1905 establishments in Connecticut

Category:Government buildings completed in 1904

Category:Psychiatric hospitals in Connecticut

Category:Reportedly haunted hospitals

Category:Reportedly haunted locations in Connecticut

Category:Preston, Connecticut

Category:Hospitals established in 1905

Category:Defunct hospitals in Connecticut

Category:Unused buildings in Connecticut

Category:Buildings and structures in Norwich, Connecticut

Category:National Register of Historic Places in New London County, Connecticut

Category:Colonial Revival architecture in Connecticut

Category:Gothic Revival architecture in Connecticut

Category:Hospital buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut

Category:Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut

Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut