Asylum

The next two paragraphs are a reasonably accurate portrayal of Kalamazoo's attitudes, as I recall them. They do not reflect my views--and certainly don't reflect the views of every Kalamazooan. Please don't expect me to defend them. Thanks. I grew up in Kalamazoo, and don't recall ever hearing a good word about our State Hospital. The town's view of the place, at least when I was young, was not unlike Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , except we didn't cut the inmates any slack. In Kalamazoo's mental image of the place, the asylum was inhabited by bad people who were being tortured by other bad people. No matter that we likely knew some of the staff, or that we may have had friends who'd been patients. The place was irredeemable, and we were pleased to see it dwindle over the course of the 1970s. The only buildings we made concerted efforts to save were the attractive water tower and the cute little gothic gatehouse . Moving the treatment focus into the community was probably a good thing for many of the patients. But for the city it was not entirely a blessing. We were still that State Hospital town, and now we had a new group of poor folks sharing the town's resources. At the bus stops the hostility could be palpable. Traverse City's asylum apparently didn't generate so many bad vibes. To all appearances, the town's always treated the campus as a big park, with magnificent buildings. I'm sure people expressed concerns and prejudices that were not unlike Kalamazoo's, but those don't seem to have dominated the social landscape. And TC's proud of their asylum, and making a serious effort to preserve it. Asylum's a good word, by the way. It expresses an aspiration that Regional Psychiatric Hospital (a later name for both complexes) doesn't even attempt. I imagine both hospitals sometimes--perhaps routinely--achieved that goal.

Joan and I had eaten at Trattoria Stella a couple times, and bought some wine from Left Foot Charley , but had never really explored the Asylum grounds. This trip we made a point to do so. I'll post a few more pix, and some commentary, over the next few days.

Somebody called these massive old buildings "mothballed." Works for me.

Both the Kalamazoo and Traverse City Asylums had enormous central buildings. Both also had substantial outlying buildings, which they chose to call cottages. This is one of those. I just love that tower.

Elsewhere on the former asylum's campus, they've converted cottages into condos. Here they've wrapped a very attractive porch around another of those neat towers I was admiring a couple days back. The Village at Grand Traverse Commons, Traverse City, Michigan.

Traverse City State Hospital, again. It's difficult to capture in a photo just how massive this building is. It goes on for a quarter mile or so, jogging a few feet--like here--every now and then. Rows and rows of windows. On the other hand, the black and white conversion has the effect of making the place seem pretty dark and forbidding. In real life, these bricks are yellow, almost cheerful, and the building's surprisingly attractive. Even though all the security fences on the porches and between the wings make it seem rather like a prison.

The old Traverse City Asylum--now called The Village at Grand Traverse Commons--is a fascinating place. Building 50 was the main building, a massive structure that's being reclaimed for housing and businesses. The basement's just full of little shops.

We spent part of Tuesday afternoon wandering around The Village at Grand Traverse Commons (the old State Hospital), in Traverse City. Then we had an excellent supper at Trattoria Stella.

We spent part of Tuesday afternoon wandering around The Village at Grand Traverse Commons (the old State Hospital), in Traverse City. Then we had an excellent supper at Trattoria Stella.