Document Type
Thesis
Abstract
Purpose: This thesis intends to understand historical integrity and how it plays a role in historic rehabilitation and adaptive reuse projects. More importantly, this study allows for a better understanding of the Kirkbride Plan as a particular building type that dominated state mental hospital design in between 1848-1890 and advanced the field of psychiatry. This study examines three adaptively reused Kirkbride hospitals Athens State Hospital, Athens, OH; Weston State Hospital, Weston, WV; and Danvers State Hospital Danvers MA. The three case studies were surveyed using the National Park Service seven aspects of historical integrity, to examine if historical integrity was preserved in the adaptive reuses.
Results: The results of this study strived to uncover the best adaptive reuse method that best preserves the historical integrity of Kirkbride hospitals. Three outcomes of the retention of historical integrity were revealed: The retention of historical integrity, the potential loss of historical integrity, and the loss of historical integrity.
Recommended Citation
Merritt, Caitlin E., "Abandoned to Functional: the Search for Historical Integrity in the Adaptive Reuses of Kirkbride State Mental Hospitals" (2013). Historic Preservation Theses. 9.
https://docs.rwu.edu/hp_theses/9
