Kings Park Psychiatric Center

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Kings Park Building 93

The Kings Park Psychiatric Center, known by Kings Park locals simply as "The Psych Center", was a former state-run psychiatric hospital located in Kings Park, New York.[1] It operated from 1885 until 1996, when the State of New York closed the facility, releasing its few remaining patients or transferring them to the still-operational Pilgrim Psychiatric Center.

Contents

History[edit]

The Kings Park Psychiatric Center was established in 1885 by Kings County in nearby Suffolk County, adjoining the "Society of St. Johnland" established by William Augustus Muhlenberg, prior to the consolidation of Kings County with Queens, Manhattan, Staten Island, and the Bronx, to form modern New York City. The official name of the hospital in its first ten years was the "Kings County Asylum," taken from the name of the county that Brooklyn occupied. The hospital was revolutionary at the time in the sense that it was a departure from the asylums of folklore, which were overcrowded places where gross human-rights abuses often occurred. The asylum, built by Brooklyn to alleviate overcrowding in its own asylums, was a "Farm Colony" asylum, where patients worked in a variety of farm-related activities, such as feeding livestock and growing food, as this was considered to be a form of therapy at the time.

Eventually, the Kings County Asylum began to suffer from the very thing that it attempted to relieve—overcrowding. New York State responded to the problem in 1895, when control of the asylum passed into state hands, and it was subsequently renamed the Kings Park State Hospital. The surrounding community, which previously was known as "Indian Head," adopted the name "Kings Park," which it is still known as today. The state eventually built the hospital into a self-sufficient community that not only grew its own food, but also generated its own heat and electricity, had its own Long Island Rail Road spur, and housed its staff on-site.

As patient populations grew throughout the early part of the 20th century, the hospital itself continued to grow, and by the late 1930s the state began to build upward instead of outward. During this period, the famous 13-story Building 93 was constructed. Designed by state architect William E. Haugaard and funded with Works Progress Administration money, the building, often dubbed "the most famous asylum building on Long Island," was completed in 1939 and would be used as an infirmary for the facility's geriatric patients, as well as for patients with chronic physical ailments.

Post-World War II, Kings Park and the other Long Island asylums would see their patient populations soar. In 1954, the patient census at Kings Park topped 9,303, but would begin a steady decline afterwards. By the time Kings Park reached its peak patient population, the old "rest and relaxation" philosophy surrounding farming gave way to pre-frontal lobotomies and electro-shock therapy. However, those methods would quickly be abandoned in 1955 following the introduction of Thorazine, the first widely used drug in the treatment of mental illness. As medication made it possible for patients to live normal lives outside of a mental institution, the need for large facilities like Kings Park diminished, and the patient population began to drop. By the early 1990s, the Kings Park Psychiatric Center, as it came to be known, was operating as a ghost of its former self, with many of the buildings being shut down or reduced in usage. This included the massive Building 93. By the early 1990s, only the first few floors of the building were in use.

In response to the declining patient population, the New York State Office of Mental Health developed plans to close Kings Park as well as another Long Island asylum, the Central Islip Psychiatric Centerin the early 1990's. The plans called for Kings Park and Central Islip to close, and the remaining patients from both facilities to be transferred to the still-operational Pilgrim Psychiatric Center, or be discharged. In the fall of 1996, the plans were implemented, and the few remaining patients from Kings Park and Central Islip were transferred to Pilgram, ending Kings Park's 111-year run.

Buildings[edit]

Building Year Built Year Demolished

1 1931-1934 2 1919 3 1931-1934 4A-J 1898

KPPC today[edit]

Today, the sprawling area that once housed the Kings Park Psychiatric Center stands as a testament to a forgotten era. In the spring of 2000, the waterfront portion of the former campus was reopened as the Nissequogue River State Park, protecting it from development. The former rail spur, abandoned in the late 1980s, was converted into part of a hike-bike trail in 2003. Pilgrim Psychiatric Center, which took the remaining patients from Kings Park, runs three group homes on the grounds.

Since 1996, several proposals regarding the property have come and gone, and numerous developers have attempted to purchase the grounds from New York State. The development proposals have proven to be highly controversial as the former campus contains numerous obstacles to development. The greatest obstacles are several buildings that were demolished into their basements and buried while the hospital was still operating. Asbestos in these buildings was never properly abated. Other areas include buried ash containing unknown materials from the hospital's power generation facilities and asbestos in steam tunnels and remaining buildings. These problems created a fear in the surrounding community that developers will have no choice but to build high-density housing to offset the environmental clean-up costs and return a profit.

In January 2006, New York State aborted the sale of the property. Outgoing parks commissioner Bernadette Castro persuaded other state officials to transfer most of the hospital property to her agency. The plan called for 368 acres (1.49 km2) to be added to Nissequogue River State Park. This also occurred in 2006 and approximately ninety percent of the campus is now part of the park. Part of the plan also included the demolition of 15 particularly dilapidated buildings, as well as unused access roads. Demolition work on the 15 officially condemned buildings, originally scheduled to begin in May 2012, was pushed back to July.

On August 13th, 2012, demolition of Building 123 (Group 2) had begun.

On August 14th, 2012, demolition of cafe 56 had begun, and has been demolished.

In January 2009, officials announced that pets are no longer allowed on the former grounds of KPPC and NY State officials agreed on a new plan for the former Kings Park Psychiatric Center property that they called the most significant step in years toward getting the long-stalled redevelopment process under way.

The towering smokestack on the site was imploded on March 27, 2013.

Public interest[edit]

Since closing its doors in 1996, trespassing has become a large problem at KPPC. This problem is fourfold, as enthusiasts of the paranormal, amateur writers, and photographer hobbyists visit the grounds. Additionally, KPPC has a reputation on Long Island as being haunted, which draws curious individuals from across the area. Vandalism has increased dramatically in recent years, with the interior of Building 93 being the focus of heavy graffiti.[2][3] King's Park Psychiatric Center, A Documentation is a website that also includes video images of building interiors.[4] The websites are mostly operated by anonymous individuals. Since entering the abandoned buildings is illegal, the property is patrolled jointly by the New York State Park Police and the New York State Office of Mental Health Police. On occasion, Suffolk County Police, Suffolk County Park Police, and New York State Police can be seen on the grounds.

In late 2012, the government has ordered the removal of the buildings.[citation needed] As of September 2012, only a couple of buildings have been removed.

In popular culture[edit]

The 1995 movie Eyes Beyond Seeing, by director Daniel Robert Cohn, was filmed in KPPC's Building 136/137 (old medical/surgical unit) shortly after the building was closed down. The film also contains exterior shots of the famous Building 93 (The 13 story tall Geriatric/Ambulatory building), in an attempt to convince viewers that the interior shots were done inside 93.

The film stars Keith Hamilton Cobb as a mental patient claiming to be Jesus Christ, and also features a cameo by Henny Youngman, in his final movie appearance before his death, as a mental patient claiming to be Henny Youngman.

In 2009, another movie was made about KPPC. In this film the legend of Mary Hatchet was brought to the screen in "Blood Night: The Legend of Mary Hatchet" written and directed by Frank Sabatella. The film tells one version of the urban legend in the form of a ghost story filled with gore as a group of teens set out to celebrate Blood Night years after Mary killed her parents, was committed to KPPC, and was gunned down during her bloody escape. The role of Mary was portrayed by Samantha Facchi. The film also stars Bill Moseley and Danielle Harris.

Building 93 of the psychiatric center was also a primary location in the 2010 feature film, "Peripheral Vision" a thriller from filmmaker, Michael D. D'Andrea.

"Kings Park: Stories from an American Mental Institution," a documentary by former patient Lucy Winer about the history and legacy of the facility, was released on DVD and theatrically in 2013.[5]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Lawrence Downes (August 4, 2012). "Erasing the Past at the Ghost Hospital". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-08-06. 
  2. ^ "Kings Park Psychiatric Center". Opacity.us. September 2010. Retrieved 2011-04-11. 
  3. ^ "Kings Park Psychiatric Center". MyKPPC Pictures. Retrieved 2011-04-11. 
  4. ^ "King's Park Psychiatric Center, A Documentation". Retrieved 2011-04-11. 
  5. ^ http://www.facebook.com/kingsparkmovie?ref=ts&fref=ts

External links[edit]

Yonkers Ghost Investigators: KPPC Historical Reference Page & Complete Photo Gallery

Coordinates: 40°54′06″N 73°13′56″W / 40.90167°N 73.23222°W / 40.90167; -73.23222

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