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Abandoned mental institution on UConn property a state attraction (AP/NHR)
- Thread starter huskymedic
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Down to Dust: An inside look at the Mansfield Training School
Founded in 1919, the Mansfield Training School, then called the ‘Connecticut School for Imbeciles at Lakeville,’ started with a couple of farms and expanded over the years. By 1960, it spanned 840 acres, had 96 different buildings and housed 1870 patients, ranging from the ages of six to 69.
Though the Training School wasn’t part of UConn when it was still in operation, students and professors would use the school as a teaching tool.
Nursing students worked at the school as part of “A Short Term Mental Retardation Learning Experience,” according to a UConn School of Nursing handbook from 1966, which included instructions on the shifts of the nurses working at the school, along with the vaccination given to the patients- which included inoculations against diphtheria, tetanus and polio, which was given in a sugar cube ‘as needed.’
The population of patients declined, however, and fewer buildings were utilized. In 1978 the Connecticut Association of the dumb on behalf of the patients, citing that the standard of living for the patients had dropped, filed a lawsuit. The school was officially closed in 1993.
UConn was given to the campus by the state in 1993. Before that, in 1985, the school was officially proposed and entered into the State Register of Historic Places due to the historical significance of the buildings from the early 1900s.
This presents a dilemma. Though some of the buildings on what is now called Depot Campus have been revitalized and are currently being used for various purposes, such as the Fire Marshall’s Office and UConn Four Arrows, others are simply boarded up and protected, for the sake of safety.
“Many of the buildings are old and were already in very poor shape before they were turned over to UConn, and would be extremely costly to renovate and repair,” UConn spokesperson Stephanie Reitz said. “We cannot tear them down without specific state permission, since the area is part of a historic district.”
Thus, the buildings are left in a state of limbo, unable to be torn down, yet unable to be repaired. Though the UConn police take care to patrol the buildings to prevent break-ins, vandals still find their way into buildings, breaking windows and scrawling graffiti on the walls.
Not quite ghost talk but thought this was an interesting tidbit from an article put out by the Daily Campus the day after the article Medic put up. UConn has the same issue here that it had with the old "fraternity row" in dealing with the Historic Buildings issue although the buildings at Mansfield Training School are in significantly worse condition.
Founded in 1919, the Mansfield Training School, then called the ‘Connecticut School for Imbeciles at Lakeville,’ started with a couple of farms and expanded over the years. By 1960, it spanned 840 acres, had 96 different buildings and housed 1870 patients, ranging from the ages of six to 69.
Though the Training School wasn’t part of UConn when it was still in operation, students and professors would use the school as a teaching tool.
Nursing students worked at the school as part of “A Short Term Mental Retardation Learning Experience,” according to a UConn School of Nursing handbook from 1966, which included instructions on the shifts of the nurses working at the school, along with the vaccination given to the patients- which included inoculations against diphtheria, tetanus and polio, which was given in a sugar cube ‘as needed.’
The population of patients declined, however, and fewer buildings were utilized. In 1978 the Connecticut Association of the dumb on behalf of the patients, citing that the standard of living for the patients had dropped, filed a lawsuit. The school was officially closed in 1993.
UConn was given to the campus by the state in 1993. Before that, in 1985, the school was officially proposed and entered into the State Register of Historic Places due to the historical significance of the buildings from the early 1900s.
This presents a dilemma. Though some of the buildings on what is now called Depot Campus have been revitalized and are currently being used for various purposes, such as the Fire Marshall’s Office and UConn Four Arrows, others are simply boarded up and protected, for the sake of safety.
“Many of the buildings are old and were already in very poor shape before they were turned over to UConn, and would be extremely costly to renovate and repair,” UConn spokesperson Stephanie Reitz said. “We cannot tear them down without specific state permission, since the area is part of a historic district.”
Thus, the buildings are left in a state of limbo, unable to be torn down, yet unable to be repaired. Though the UConn police take care to patrol the buildings to prevent break-ins, vandals still find their way into buildings, breaking windows and scrawling graffiti on the walls.
Not quite ghost talk but thought this was an interesting tidbit from an article put out by the Daily Campus the day after the article Medic put up. UConn has the same issue here that it had with the old "fraternity row" in dealing with the Historic Buildings issue although the buildings at Mansfield Training School are in significantly worse condition.