State hospital building set for demolition
A state review board has given the go-ahead to demolish one building on Evansville State Hospital grounds and gave another building a 90-day stay of execution pending an acceptable renovation plan.
State and local preservationists have three months to come up with a plan to renovate a laundry facility built in 1907 that resembles a castle, according to an agreement reached Wednesday with the state Preservation Review Board, which decides the future of buildings on the state historical register. A three-story ward built in 1927, used in the 1990s as a Halloween haunted house called the Phantom Theater, is set for demolition within 120 days. Officials decided it would be too difficult to find a use for the large building because residential use isn't on the table. "It's unfortunate," said Mark Dollase, director of the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana's Central Regional Office in Indianapolis. "The reason that it's such an important issue is state-owned properties are being targeted for demolition on a regular basis by the state. It's kind of like a fox guarding the henhouse situation. It's kind of a foregone conclusion what's going to happen to these buildings."
The state hospital buildings are targeted for demolition because Family Social Services Administration officials want to create a more "parklike" environment on the ground, preservation officials said. Hospital and state FSSA officials who could discuss plans for the site were not in the office Thursday, said Mitzie Weiss, quality management director for the state hospital.
Efforts to reuse the site have been slowed by state-imposed restrictions: The one-story laundry building can only be given to a nonprofit group and can't be used as a residence because of its proximity to the state hospital. FSSA officials agreed to the 90-day delay before the hearing, said Dennis Au, Evansville's preservation officer.
The Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, which is a nonprofit, could ask for ownership of the laundry building until another tenant is found.
The foundation plans to hire a preservation architect to determine the cost of stabilizing the building, which needs work to replace some fallen bricks and a cracked truss that supports the large, open main room. Four of the vacant buildings on the premises were on the Historic Landmarks Foundation's 10 most endangered buildings list; only the laundry building and the soon-to-be-demolished ward actually are listed on the state register. A fifth building was razed within the last two years and 1.2 acres were given to the Master Gardeners Association.
Au asked the state to adopt guidelines to prevent state-owned buildings eligible for the state historical register from being destroyed.
Au suggested the state earmark money to maintain buildings abandoned by state agencies and proposed the agencies formulate a reuse plan before they go. He said problems at vacant buildings start out small and grow exponentially over the years.
"What I'm saying is the situation up at the state hospital has been a bitter pill and it shouldn't happen again," Au said.
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