The Imposing Richardson Complex

Last weekend I was able to tour the H.H. Richardson Complex on Forest Ave.  This complex was formerly known as the Buffalo Psych Center.  I learned a lot about it that was really interesting.  For example, the way the building was designed was, from the front, it was a bit imposing with the tall towers right in the front and center.  However, from the back, the building took the look of open arms to cradle and nurture the patients that resided there.  I also found it interesting on how the building was made and added onto over the years.  As you can see from the above picture, the building was made from one kind of stone, Medina Sandstone.  Many buildings from the time period  around the area are also made of the same stone.  However, as you move further away from the Administration Building, you see less sandstone and more brick.  Here's a good example below of the sandstone meeting up with brick at one end of the complex:

Another fact that I found quite interesting was that the original campus for the complex covered all the land that it's on now as well as all of the Buffalo State campus and more.  All of this land allowed the complex to be a self sustaining.  They not only housed patients there, but they also taught the patients trades to rehabilitate and give them a focus of returning to public life away from the complex.  They also had farmed land on the grounds to grow their own food.  Again, the patients (some) were not just allowed, but were expected to take care of field work for the good of the whole complex.  There was also a large green house and other workshops on the grounds.

Something that really caught my attention on the tour was the fact that, in some rooms, you can still see where the chains were attached to the wall that were used to restrain some of the patients.  Yet others were expected to function and take care of gardening or farming or other jobs to help the complex run smoothly throughout the days and months.  From the tainted perception I have made of psych centers in my mind, you know, based on all of those crapy movies over the years, I find it quite forward and humane that these patients were expected to help and not just be chained to walls or be stuck in a padded room wearing the iconic straight jacket for the duration of the day.

Now I do understand that there was a certain percentage of patients that were deemed incurable and what not.  But that also went into the design of the building.  From an aerial view, yo can easily see that the complex is quite long, with the Administration building in the center of it.  To one side, was the female ward while on the other was the male ward.  Also, as you got further away from the center, the building got smaller, as if to house a smaller number of patients.  This was true, as you got further away from the Administration building, the patients housed there were more "incurable".  That is, as your stay at the Center progressed, the doctors would expect you to move more towards the Administration Building until you were healthy enough to walk out the front doors and return to society.

So here's the sad part.  This building and complex served the Buffalo area since it was built in 1872 until about the 1980's.  Since then, not much has been done to the building.  Not even the water lines were shut off.  This proved to be one hell of a downfall for the building.  Because nobody thought to turn the water off before they vacated the building, all sorts of water damage has occurred.  It had gotten so bad that, not only did pipes freeze and break all over the building, but the walls are now falling apart.

In the picture above, you can see not just a big whole in the wall, but also a lot of brickwork missing from above the second story windows.  Both the whole and missing brickwork is due to extensive water damage.  The water would get into the mortar and brick and just rot it away to nothing, literally taking the building apart.

The good news is that there is a lot of talk about rehabbing the complex for some sort of other use.  Either a museum, hotel or offices have been mentioned.  I truly hope something happens soon.  It really is a wonderful building with a great deal of function potential.  Could you imagine staying here if it were made into a hotel??  Talk about nightmares......