| all photos and unattributed text copyright © 2005-2007 by abandonedamerica.org and may not be used or reproduced without prior written consent. all rights reserved. |
| part 8: demolition by neglect |
the process is called demolition by neglect.
as a property owner, you'd probably like nothing more than to
raze an entire derelict asylum and sell it to some developer for a tidy sum
so they can turn the land into a nice little cookie cutter housing development
with cheaply made, soulless homes... or maybe they could set up
another target or a walmart, or maybe even just a parking lot, it doesn't matter.
the money is the important thing.
the catch is,
sites listed on the national historic register are very difficult to demolish or renovate
due to the fact that they are meant to be preserved. there is a loophole, though -
while you may not be allowed to tear the site down, you don't have to keep it up -
so you allow time to take its toll. water eats away the roof and floors,
'accidental' fires occur, and while the process is not a quick one, it works.
you can eventually claim the site as a total loss. it would be so expensive
to undo the damage you allowed to happen, you can point out. the site is an eyesore.
local kids come there to get drunk and high,
to break things and possibly fall through the steps.
after several years the community starts to complain, to do your work for you.
they are tired of living next to a scary old structure. they'd rather see
the overgrown graveyard bulldozed for a business park, and the windows,
so like empty eye sockets, cease to stare out over their neighborhood with
an expression much like sadness and accusation. maybe you're forced
to put up an expensive fence, or to install cameras, and the legal liabilities are huge
but those who care about the past won't let you just destroy it outright, so you have to
wait and wait, until everyone is so sick of the building,
until it has collapsed to such an extent
that saving it is out of the question.
nevermind the sheer wastefulness of it. nevermind the historical significance,
or the fact that such a place could be a museum, a tribute to those who lost their lives there,
a warning to everyone that such mistakes must not happen again. nevermind that
the need for inpatient and/or residential care for the severely mentally ill
will never cease to be a problem, likely necessitating asylums to be rebuilt again,
doubtlessly at significant taxpayer expense. nevermind the fact that the building
was one the community originally petitioned for, because it built their town. it created
jobs and industries, at least initially it was worn as a mark of pride
until mismanagement turned it into a dark shadow, a threat that loomed over all,
a way of keeping the unruly in line:
"you'd better shape up or they'll send you to teton state."
slowly all the records are ruined by mold, and the artifacts inside stolen,
and all the identities of those poor souls who by need or unfortunate circumstance
were treated at such a place and lost everything they had for it -
they are all erased, just as slowly, but just as surely.
it's a process called demolition by neglect.
as a property owner, you'd probably like nothing more than to
raze an entire derelict asylum and sell it to some developer for a tidy sum
so they can turn the land into a nice little cookie cutter housing development
with cheaply made, soulless homes... or maybe they could set up
another target or a walmart, or maybe even just a parking lot, it doesn't matter.
the money is the important thing.
the catch is,
sites listed on the national historic register are very difficult to demolish or renovate
due to the fact that they are meant to be preserved. there is a loophole, though -
while you may not be allowed to tear the site down, you don't have to keep it up -
so you allow time to take its toll. water eats away the roof and floors,
'accidental' fires occur, and while the process is not a quick one, it works.
you can eventually claim the site as a total loss. it would be so expensive
to undo the damage you allowed to happen, you can point out. the site is an eyesore.
local kids come there to get drunk and high,
to break things and possibly fall through the steps.
after several years the community starts to complain, to do your work for you.
they are tired of living next to a scary old structure. they'd rather see
the overgrown graveyard bulldozed for a business park, and the windows,
so like empty eye sockets, cease to stare out over their neighborhood with
an expression much like sadness and accusation. maybe you're forced
to put up an expensive fence, or to install cameras, and the legal liabilities are huge
but those who care about the past won't let you just destroy it outright, so you have to
wait and wait, until everyone is so sick of the building,
until it has collapsed to such an extent
that saving it is out of the question.
nevermind the sheer wastefulness of it. nevermind the historical significance,
or the fact that such a place could be a museum, a tribute to those who lost their lives there,
a warning to everyone that such mistakes must not happen again. nevermind that
the need for inpatient and/or residential care for the severely mentally ill
will never cease to be a problem, likely necessitating asylums to be rebuilt again,
doubtlessly at significant taxpayer expense. nevermind the fact that the building
was one the community originally petitioned for, because it built their town. it created
jobs and industries, at least initially it was worn as a mark of pride
until mismanagement turned it into a dark shadow, a threat that loomed over all,
a way of keeping the unruly in line:
"you'd better shape up or they'll send you to teton state."
slowly all the records are ruined by mold, and the artifacts inside stolen,
and all the identities of those poor souls who by need or unfortunate circumstance
were treated at such a place and lost everything they had for it -
they are all erased, just as slowly, but just as surely.
it's a process called demolition by neglect.
