A Very Serious, Thoughtful Museum That - Oh, Never Mind

Weston State Hospital in Weston, West Virginia, was once a mental health institution.  It's been vacant for some time, and was recently sold by the state to Joe Jordan and his family. The Jordans have been remodeling the building and have just started giving tours that "focus on issues such as the evolution of mental health care, the Civil War, the Great Depression, even architecture."  Part of the Jordans' focus on the history of mental health care is to rename the Weston State Hospital as the "Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum."

Another entirely appropriate and needed aspect of their very serious treatment of the history of mental health care is to have a dirt-bike race on the grounds called the "Psycho Path."  Oh, and next Halloween season you can visit their planned "Hospital of Horrors," which is probably going to be a very serious look at the history of mental health institution-themed commercial haunted houses.  On Christmas Eve you can attend their "Nightmare Before Christmas," sure to please both conservative Christians and Tim Burton fans.

And they'll have, um, mud bogs.  You know, where trucks try to drive across a large field of mud without getting stuck.  Because, and you must see this already, a mud bog memorializes the. . .history-yes, the history, er, historical significance in the field of mental health care of large trucks. . .driving through mud. . .

The Jordans certainly have an entrepeneurial spirit, you can't deny that.

Comments

[weboy]

There seems to be a lot of complexity to this story - the property is 300 acres (seems like enough space to keep the "mud bog" from the hospital itself) with a lot of buildings, and they do seem to want to present the history in a fair way, as well as make money. I'm not sure I can begrudge them - or their local economy - for wanting to see the place survive, by whatever means necessary.

The point, I think, is that the history of mental health care and treatment in this country is a sorry one. More than a few people would love, I think, to paper over the horrors of warehousing, poor care, and horrifying approaches of the past (and BTW Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum appears to have been the place's actual name at some point). Letting Weston crumble, which seems, by all accounts, to be the alternative, doesn't seem like the one to be in favor of. So I guess my question is, Stephen, where are you going with this? What sort of alternative, realistically, is possible?

[Stephen]

So I guess my question is, Stephen, where are you going with this?

I just thought it was weird. I'm not sure dredging up the old "Lunatic Asylum" name is such a good idea since there are former patients of the hospital around.

300 acres is a good chunk of land, but even if the mud bogs will be out of sight of the hospital, it's still poor taste. Perhaps if they divided up the land and made separate entrances; one for their museum side and one for their hillbilly extravanganza or whatever they'll end up doing.

While the way this country has treated the mentally ill is buried the same way we bury all our unpleasant memories, I'm not sure the Jordans are setting up an environment in which people will really be forced to confront the true history of mental health care. At least, I'm pretty sure that when people leave the "Hospital of Horrors" they won't sit down for a frank discussion about the plight of the mentally ill in this country.

[weboy]

Stepehn - Just got your Starbucks note. The posting should be up shortly... with apologies. :)

[low-tech cyclist]

Relax, weboy - we know the post was mostly an excuse for the title...

[Stephen]

we know the post was mostly an excuse for the title.

You wound me, sir! I really didn't think of the title first, though it was such a great pleasure to employ it.

[minstrel hussain boy]

if they start storing the garbage in some big vacant room we might have the beginnings of an "alice's restaurant massacree"

[Ethan]

These kind of things have been going on at Weston for a long time. Several years ago, before the building was sold, my wife and I went on a tour there. They had spooky strobe lights going in one room, told ghost stories, and showed us photos chock full of orbs*. But there actually was some interesting historical information discussed too.

The new owners are really outdoing anything that's gone before though in terms of bad taste. Psycho Path? Ugh...

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orb_(paranormal)

[Candis Garringer]

Such a beautiful place to let sit and rot. Wish there was a way to repair buildings,yet keep them as they were.
Such a cool history to the place.I would drive the over 500 miles to take a tour, but would like it as much like it "was" if possible. Just my opinion.