H. H. Richardson Complex

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Buffalo State Hospital
(U.S. National Historic Landmark)
South (front) elevation of the Administration Building
Location:	400 Forest Ave., Buffalo, New York
Built/Founded:	1870
Architect:	Henry Hobson Richardson
Architectural style(s):	Richardsonian Romanesque
Designated as NHL:	June 24, 1986[1]
Added to NRHP:	January 12, 1973[2]
NRHP Reference#:	73001186
Governing body:	State

H.H. Richardson Complex is a recently-coined name for the Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane, a large Medina red sandstone and brick hospital that stands on the grounds of the present day Buffalo Psychiatric Center in Buffalo, New York. The official name for the complex (at least technically so) remains as the Buffalo Psychiatric Center (originally Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane, and, later, known as Buffalo State Hospital).

The hospital buildings were designed in 1870 in the Kirkbride Plan by architect Henry Hobson Richardson with grounds by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. The main set of buildings consist of a central administrative block and five pavillions progressively set back on each side, for eleven buildings total, all connected by short curved two-story corridors. Patients were segregated by sex, males on the east side, females on the west. It housed mental patients for a century and has been vacant since the mid-1970's. The central administration building was used for offices until 1994. In 1973, the Asylum was added to the National Register of Historic Places and in 1986, it was designated a National Historic Landmark. The complex, the largest commission of Richardson's career and the advent of his characteristic Richardsonian Romanesque style, has been the subject of a long-term preservation campaign. Nevertheless, three pavilions on the east side were demolished when the one of the newer, and current, psychiatric facilities on the campus was built. The grounds behind the building have been occupied by Buffalo State College since the 1970's. Meanwhile, the extant buildings have continued to deteriorate, some dangerously so.

A successful lawsuit filed by the Preservation Coalition of Erie County forced the State of New York to commit $100 million to its rehabilitation. As of 2007, aside from the addition of a fence surrounding the perimeter of the complex and the sealing or fencing-in of all ground-level entrances to the complex, little progress towards the goal of reuse had occurred. Local volunteers have kept a spotlighting system working on the central towers for the past few years. At a public meeting in November 27, 2007, the Richardson Center Corporation presented updates on the progress of the project, including a finished Historic Structures Report, which detailed the present structural conditions of the complex. ^[3]. On March 5, 2008, initial repairs were begun on the most severely damaged buildings, with repairs to the roof and down-spouts occurring that day. ^[4]. Further repairs - stabilizations for Building 43, roof repairs for Buildings 10 & 45, and stabilization of the corridor linking buildings 39 & 40, which is currently so damaged that one sees straight through the corridor in places - are planned for the following months.

It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986.^[1],^[5]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• State Lunatic Asylum (8 photos), at Historic American Buildings Survey
• New York State Asylum for the Insane (commercial photography site)
• http://preserve.bfn.org/bam/archs/rich/statekowsky/
• http://www.faithelevators.us/bpc01.html
• http://www.city-buffalo.com/graphicsgallery_578.html
• http://www.buffalonian.com/history/articles/1951-now/hhrichardson2002/
• http://bpc.buffaloexploration.com/

• H. H. Richardson Complex is at coordinates 42°55′46″N 78°52′56″W / 42.929382, -78.882147 (H. H. Richardson Complex)Coordinates: 42°55′46″N 78°52′56″W / 42.929382, -78.882147 (H. H. Richardson Complex)

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	State of New York Psychiatric hospitals
Adult\Children Facilities	Capital District Psychiatric Center (Albany) | Elmira Psychiatric Center | Greater Binghamton Health Center | Hutchings Psychiatric Center (Syracuse) | Mohawk Valley Psychiatric Center (Utica) | Rochester Psychiatric Center | South Beach Psychiatric Center (Staten Island) | St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center (Ogdensburg) |
Adult Facilities	Bronx Psychiatric Center | Buffalo Psychiatric Center | Creedmoor Psychiatric Center (Queens Village) | Hudson River Psychiatric Center (Poughkeepsie) | Kingsboro Psychiatric Center (Brooklyn) | Manhattan Psychiatric Center | Pilgrim Psychiatric Center (Brentwood) | Rockland Psychiatric Center (Orangeburg) | Washington Heights Community Mental Health Center (Washington Heights)
Children's Facilities	Bronx Children's Psychiatric Center | Brooklyn Children's Psychiatric Center | Queens Children's Psychiatric Center (Bellerose) | Rockland Children's Psychiatric Center | Sagamore Children's Psychiatric Center (Dix Hills) | Western NY Children's Psychiatric Center (West Seneca) |
Forensic Facilities	Central New York Psychiatric Center (Marcy) | Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center (Ward's Island) | Mid-Hudson Forensic Psychiatric Center (New Hampton) | Rochester Regional Forensic Unit
Research Facilities	Nathan S. Kline Institute (Orangeburg) | New York Psychiatric Institute (New York City)
Closed Facilities	Asylum on Blackwell's Island (New York City) | Bloomington Lunatic Asylum (Morningside Heights) | Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane (Buffalo) Central Islip Psychiatric Center (Central Islip) | Dannemora State Hospital (Dannemora) Now know as Clinton Correctional Facility | Gowanda State Hospital (Collins) | Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center (Dover Plains) | Hudson River State Hospital (Poughkeepsie) | Kings Park Psychiatric Center (Kings Park) | Letchworth Village Home for the Feeble Minded and Epileptics (Thiells) | Long Island Developmental Center (Melville) | Manhattan Children's Psychiatric Center | Matteawan State Hospital (Matteawan) Now known as Fishkill Correctional Facility | Middletown Psychiatric Center (Middletown) | Mohansic State Hospital (Yorktown Heights) | Newville State Hospital (Newville) | New York Asylum for Idiots (Syracuse) | New York State Inebriate Asylum (Binghamton) | Utica State Hospital | (Utica) | Western New York Institution for Deaf-Mutes (Rochester) | Willard State Hospital (Willard) | Willowbrook State School (Staten Island) Institution for children with mental retardation
Sanatorium	Loomis Sanatorium (Liberty) | Interpines Sanatorium (Goshen)