Laura Wright 
One of the finest examples of American architecture and history is under assault on a daily basis. Across our nation, demolition teams, developers and other commercially-minded individuals see our old asylums as rubbish. Something to be destroyed and forgotten. Local historic groups are pushing against this razing of history, but more people need to be involved.
Asylums are staples in the dark fiction industry, true, and many are the scenes of terrible atrocities. But, most are gorgeous examples of what once was. There was a time, nearly a century ago, when these structures were state-of-the-art and utilized the finest in build and design. Long before budget cuts and fiscal tragedies, these places were indeed engineered to help the patient.
They also remain a glimpse into yesteryear. Once these structures are gone, there will be no more to replace them. So contact your local historical society to see if there’s more you can do, not only to preserve our historic hospitals, but also historic structures of any kind.
Loverly,
I think it is interesting that you chose a photo of Waverly for this post, since it is considered, or is, at least, believed to be, one of the most haunted structures in the United States. I presumed you would elaborate on that aspect of many of these buildings, since death is a major part of their history.
Do you think that a structure’s reputation of being haunted plays a part in how such edifices are treated?
That aside, I agree with the issue regarding historical preservation. We can learn quite a bit by maintaining these structures instead of having them razed. Luckily, the owners of Waverly are not planning on destroying this hospital any time soon, and are thinking about transforming it into a hotel. In the meantime, they conduct tours (many of them “ghost” tours) and allow paranormal investigations on a regular basis to raise the money needed for renovations (see here).
I know we had a recent discussion about this on my blog. I would certainly like to visit Waverly some day.
Do you have a current update on the place? I haven’t had the time to look further.
R1
Hi!
Actually, the paranormal group I’m in looked into visiting for a long time. I don’t think they were able to arrange it, I know there’s a pretty good fee for groups who want to investigate. I’ve thought about providing insight into each structure, specifically, but I’m still hashing out ideas for them:-)
Waverly is a shining example of historic buildings that have been saved because someone took an interest in them. Any interest is better than none.
Hm, I’m happy with this nevertheless not utterly confident, thus i am gonna research a little more.
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