Finding out the location	easy
Access	easy
Safety	unsafe
Risk of being seen	high
General condition of the place	?
Traces of vandalism	very many
Good place for taking pictures?	very good
Did you see other people?	few

Visit date    August 6 2020 at 4 hr
Visit duration    2 hours

The Babcock building is a beautiful historical gem centrally located smack in the middle of downtown. Despite the rich historical value and beautiful architecture, this building has a tragic past and is a reminder of a massive mental health system failure. Construction was done in segments and began in 1858. It finally concluded in 1885. Because of the many delays and years it took to build, it features many different styles and quirky ideas due to multiple
developers taking over. Initially, it housed soldiers but then moved into darker use. It opened its doors to the mentally insane, troubled and challenged individuals. But what this hospital offered In return was far from helpful for these suffering people. There has been many rumors of illegal lobotomy’s, chaining patients to the floor, staff impregnating child patients, electro therapy, invasive and illegal experiments and testing and other barbaric methods of treatment. It closed its doors in the mid 1980s due to insufficient space. Sadly, most of these mentally ill patients were just released into the streets or thrown into jail as an alternative. Even sadder, this building fell into shambles and became a hot spot for bored and careless teenagers and homeless people seeking shelter. The building was badly vandalized and graffitied inside, as well as having multiple windows busted out. The floor fell through in few spots and there was also a small fire in 2018 causing a small amount of damage. But despite all this, you can still see the former glory of this massive three story, 250,000 sq ft building shining through in every quirky detail. It’s all brick so it stands strong no matter what. In the beginning of this year, the Babcock building was set to be cleaned up and turned into apartments. This was when I took my visit. Unfortunately all the “items” were cleaned and cleared out so the rooms and hallways were bare but still unbelievably beautiful. Most notable was the gorgeous wood doors, the colorful paint and the individuality each room had to offer. All the rooms and doors were a different bright color, some with curtains or fireplaces still. there is stunning swirling iron work covering each window. The staircases are all different and lovely. The best staircase is the one leading to an iconic dome (cupola) that overlooks the entirety of the downtown area. The cupola was constructed with all solid pine wood. The future looked bright for this place until September 12th 2020. Despite 24 hour security sometime Early in the morning, an unknown arsonist set the Babcock building ablaze. It burned for hours. 25,000 sq ft of irreplaceable history was burned to the ground in a three alarm fire. The iconic dome collapsed in the fire as well. The outlook is now unknown but many locals are hopeful the resilient building can be saved once more and continue to serve as a reminder of the dark past of the state.

  Text and photos are by Vyvansetrance. Click here to see Vyvansetrance's profile and other reports.

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