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A building on the grounds of the Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital (once known as the Greystone Park Lunatic Asylum). Morris County, New Jersey. Now partially abandoned and in a state of decay as some of the buildings return to dust and weeds. The facility occupies some 700+ acres and has been taken over by the state of New Jersey. Plans have been debated in recent years about disposition of the remaining buildings through adaptive reuse or demolition. Many of the buildings were razed in over the past five years.

Legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie was hospitalized here from about 1956 to 1961 due to symptoms from Huntington's disease which caused him to sometimes lose control of his muscle movements. While hospitalized here, Bob Dylan came to pay a visit to Woody.

The Main Building at Greystone, pictured below.

Known as a Kirkbride building, after its namesake, Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride who designed the paradigmatic model for state-of-the-art "insane asylums" in the latter half of the 19th Century. Typically set on sprawling campuses set in secluded locations, Kirkbride buildings were constructed around the US, more than 35 were erected. Many of them have since fallen into disrepair or been razed as the care of patients suffering mental illness has radically changed since Dr. Kirkbride's day with a dramatic shift away from institutionalization. The Kirkbride building at Greystone Park in Morris Plains, New Jersey was probably one of the largest. It was designed by architect Sloan after Kirkbride's ideas. Construction was begun in 1871 and completed 1876. As  various parts of the campus were decommissioned throughout the 1980's, 1990's and onward, many of the subsidiary building were demolished. The Main Building was finally vacated by the last remaining administrative staff in 2008. The future of the building remains uncertain as state and local officials debate alternative uses. The cost of renovating and stabilizing the building for preservation or adaptive reuse is undoubtedly in the millions; a cost not easily allocated from public funds in perilous economic times.

See http://www.preservegreystone.org/history.html to learn  more about advocacy for preservation of this historic site.

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CV 15/4.5 Superwide Heliar.