Richardson Olmsted Complex facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Richardson Olmsted Campus |
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The central part of the Richardson Olmsted Campus
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| Former names | Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane, Buffalo State Hospital, Richardson Olmsted Complex, Hotel Henry |
| Alternative names | The Richardson Hotel |
| General information | |
| Status | Used as a hotel |
| Location | 444 Forest Avenue, Buffalo, New York 14222 |
| Coordinates | 42°55′43″N 078°52′55.1″W / 42.92861°N 78.881972°W |
| Named for | Henry Hobson Richardson |
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Richardson Olmsted Complex
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| Area | 93 acres (38 ha) |
| Built | Cornerstone placed in 1872. Finished in 1895. |
| Architect | Henry Hobson Richardson |
| Architectural style | Richardsonian Romanesque |
| NRHP reference No. | 73001186 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | January 12, 1973 |
| Designated NHL | June 24, 1986 |
| Renovated | 2006-2023 |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 88 |
The Richardson Olmsted Campus is a famous historic site in Buffalo, New York. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 1986. This means it's a very important place in American history.
The campus was designed by a well-known architect, Henry Hobson Richardson, and famous landscape designers, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. They worked together in the late 1800s. The buildings were made to follow a special plan for treating people with mental illness. This plan was created by Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride.
Over many years, the way mental health was treated changed. The buildings and grounds started to fall apart. By 1974, the last patients left the old hospital wards. In 2006, a group called the Richardson Center Corporation started working to fix up the buildings.
Today, parts of the campus are being used again. The Hotel Richardson is now open in the main Towers Building and two buildings next to it. This is about one-third of the whole campus. The hotel also has places to eat, like Cafe Calvert, Bar Vaux, and Cucina. Other buildings on the campus have been made safe. A new developer, Douglas Jemal, plans to finish restoring the rest of the site.
There are also plans for a new museum here. It will be called the Lipsey Architecture Center Buffalo. This museum will show off Buffalo's amazing history of buildings and design.
Contents
History of the Campus
The story of the Richardson Olmsted Campus began in 1865. A New York Senator, Asher P. Nichols, wanted to build more hospitals for people with mental health needs. One was planned for western New York.
Buffalo was chosen as the best spot for this new hospital. The city offered free water for 100 years. Its location, in a quiet area but close to a busy city, was perfect for the Kirkbride Plan. Dr. John P. Gray, who was in charge of the project, decided the hospital would care for about 600 patients.
The large hospital buildings were designed in 1870 by architect Henry Hobson Richardson. They were built with red Medina sandstone and brick. The beautiful grounds were designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.
Construction started in 1871. The first stone was laid in 1872. On November 15, 1880, the Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane welcomed its first patients. The hospital was fully finished in 1895.
In 1889, New York State gave money to finish building the asylum. Richardson had passed away in 1886. So, other architects, Green and Wicks and William W. Carlin, completed the project. They tried to keep Richardson's unique style.
In 1890, the asylum changed its name to the Buffalo State Hospital. New York State also decided that mental health care was the state's job. The hospital, built for 600 people, soon became very crowded.
By 1895, the western parts of the hospital were done. Patients were separated by gender. Women stayed in the western wings, and men in the eastern wings.
In 1918, the famous towers, which had clay-tile roofs, were covered with copper.
A large farm on the campus, used for patient therapy, was sold in 1927. This made the campus smaller. In 1933, part of the green space designed by Olmsted was paved over for a parking lot.
In the early 1960s, some old male patient wards were taken down. This made space for a new, modern treatment center. The Strozzi Building was finished in 1964. This marked the end of the original asylum's main use.
In 1973, the Asylum was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 1986, it became a National Historic Landmark.
The last patients moved out of the original hospital wards in 1974. The main towers building was used as offices until 1990. After that, Richardson's building was empty and slowly fell apart for almost 20 years. In 2006, the Richardson Center Corporation took over. They started to make the buildings safe again.
Building Design and Style
Henry Hobson Richardson was chosen to design the Buffalo State Asylum in 1870. He studied at Harvard College and then at a famous art school in Paris, France.
After returning to New York City, Richardson met Frederick Law Olmsted. They were neighbors and had similar ideas about art and design. Olmsted suggested Richardson to William Dorsheimer, a lawyer in Buffalo. Richardson designed a house for Dorsheimer, which you can still see today.
Dorsheimer later led the group that picked the asylum's architect. Because of his good experience, he helped the committee choose Richardson in May 1870.
The Buffalo State Asylum was Richardson's biggest project. It showed off his unique Romanesque Revival style. When other architects copied this style, it became known as Richardsonian Romanesque.
Some parts of the hospital were taken down in the 1970s to build newer facilities. In 1927, the northern farmlands were given to the state. This land is now part of Buffalo State College.
The Campus Landscape
The plans for the asylum's outdoor areas were made around 1870. They were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. These two also designed famous parks like Central Park in New York City.
Their first plans for Buffalo were lost. Olmsted then made a new plan. This plan showed how the front of the asylum would look. It included a looping entrance road and curving paths. There were also plans for a hidden carriage path, but this was never built.
Olmsted's plan called for planting 150 trees and up to 2000 shrubs. The goal was to create a "pastoral landscape." This meant an open, natural-looking area. Olmsted wanted people to see the buildings from the outside. He also wanted patients to see the outside world clearly from their windows and during walks.
Today, only a few of Olmsted's original trees remain. There are two Swamp White Oaks in front of the main building. A huge White Ash stands near the fence along Forest Avenue.
Mental Health Care in the Past
In the past, mental health asylums were a big step forward in caring for people with mental illness. Before these hospitals, people with mental health issues were often kept in poorhouses or jails. They faced harsh treatments like bloodletting or being kept alone.
Asylums focused on both medical care and the design of the buildings. The idea was that the environment could help cure mental health problems. The first hospital just for mental health opened in 1773 in Virginia. More hospitals opened in the early 1800s.
Reformers like Dorothea Dix worked hard to get more money and laws for building mental health asylums. Dix traveled widely, telling people how important asylums were. She even proposed a bill to set aside federal land for these hospitals. Although her bill didn't pass, her efforts led to 32 new mental health hospitals being built across the United States.
After the American Civil War in 1865, there was a new focus on building mental health facilities.
The Kirkbride Plan
Thomas Story Kirkbride was born in Pennsylvania in 1809. He became a doctor and focused on mental health. In 1840, he became the head of the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane. He also helped start a group for medical leaders of mental health hospitals.
The Kirkbride Plan was Kirkbride's special way of thinking about mental health care. He wrote a book about how to build and run hospitals for people with mental illness. His ideas were very new for the 1800s. They were based on "moral treatment." This meant treating patients kindly and with respect. Moral treatment came from a time called The Enlightenment, which focused on individual rights.
Kirkbride believed that mental health problems could often be treated and cured. He thought the hospital should be a safe place away from daily life. The environment was just as important as the medical care. He emphasized fresh air, sunlight, and exercise as key parts of treatment.
The Kirkbride Plan suggested a V-shaped layout for the hospital grounds. There would be one main building in the center. This plan was also called the "congregate plan" or "linear plan." It was the first time architecture was used in a scientific way for mental health care.
Kirkbride also had ideas for the inside of the hospital. He said each patient ward should have a parlor, a dining room, and private rooms. Rooms were to be 11 feet deep by 9 feet wide, with one bed. They should be 16 feet high with wood floors. Kirkbride also wanted good fire safety.
The Richardson Olmsted Campus was built following the Kirkbride Plan. It has a central tower and five buildings on each side. These 11 buildings are connected by short, curved hallways. Patients were separated by gender. Men were on the east side, and women on the west. Patients who needed the most care were in the outer buildings. As they got better, they moved closer to the main building. There, they could do more social activities like farming, playing baseball, or going to holiday parties.
By the 1900s, asylums started to be called "state hospitals." This showed a change in how people viewed mental health care. The Kirkbride Plan also gave way to a "cottage plan." Instead of one huge building, there were many smaller buildings. Each focused on a specific need, like a building for tuberculosis or surgery. Some of these smaller buildings were added to the Richardson Olmsted Campus.
In the mid-1900s, the Buffalo State Hospital became very crowded. It was designed for about 600 patients but had almost 4,000 by 1940. Many patients had long-term issues. In 1963, the modern Strozzi Building was built to help with this problem.
Saving the Campus
A group called the Preservation Coalition of Erie County (now "Preservation Buffalo Niagara") worked hard to save the campus. In 2006, New York State created the Richardson Center Corporation to fix up the site. The state promised $100 million for the work.
Fences and lights were put up to protect the property. Security guards were hired to stop crime. In 2008, work began to make the most damaged buildings safe. This included fixing roofs. This first phase of safety work was finished in 2012.
On April 10, 2010, there was a fire. It caused about $200,000 in damage.
In 2013, the South Lawn area of the campus was finished.
The Richardson Center Corporation has involved the public in its plans. They held many meetings to get ideas for the campus. A Community Advisory Group, with people from local neighborhoods and groups, helps guide the plans.
Today, the Douglas Development Corporation is continuing to restore the buildings.
Hotel Richardson Opens
In 2013, plans were announced for the first phase of redevelopment. This included turning one-third of the campus into the Hotel Henry Urban Resort Conference Center. It also planned for restaurants and the Buffalo Architecture Center.
This first phase was completed in 2016. Hotel Henry opened in May 2017. However, it closed in 2020 because of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, Douglas Development Corporation, led by Douglas Jemal, started leasing the property. They plan to restore the rest of the buildings on the campus.
In March 2023, Douglas Development Corporation reopened the hotel. It is now called Hotel Richardson. The hotel has 88 rooms. It is close to many Buffalo museums, like the Buffalo AKG Art Museum and the Buffalo History Museum.
Lipsey Architecture Center Buffalo
As of summer 2023, plans are still being made for the Lipsey Architecture Center Buffalo. This new cultural center will be built at the Richardson Olmsted Campus. It will focus on the rich history of architecture in Western New York.
Recently, the center opened two small exhibits. They are on the ground floor of the Hotel Richardson. One exhibit is about Buffalo's general architecture. The other tells a brief history of the Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane.
Images for kids
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Under renovation in 2008
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South elevation, 2017
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South elevation, 1965
