Case study

Made of masonry and brick in the mid-19th century, state mental hospitals were built to last, but they can quickly decay under the wrong circumstances.

Like a ship in drydock, the buildings deteriorate when empty. A tree limb falls through the roof or vandals break windows, letting rainwater in that rots the wood floors. Soon, the entire building is crumbling.

As in Raleigh, the Dixmont State Hospital near Pittsburgh was the direct result of the lobbying of mental health crusader Dorothea Dix. When it opened in 1862, it was one of the foremost hospitals in the country and an architectural marvel overlooking the Ohio River.

But after the state closed it in 1984, the elements began to take their toll. A major fire, vandalism and two decades of neglect eventually made restoration prohibitively expensive.

Last year, all of the buildings were demolished to make way for a Wal-Mart Supercenter.

"By the time it was torn down, there really wasn't anything else they could do with it," said Andy Hill, a police officer from nearby Rochester who runs a Web site devoted to photographs of the hospital.

At one time, the Traverse City State Hospital in Michigan appeared headed for a similar fate.

After the state transferred the 480-acre property to a redevelopment corporation, the hospital buildings sat idle for years. When a deal with a private developer fell through, a local company stepped forward.

The Minervini Group was well known for rehabilitating smaller buildings, but it had never done a project that large. To reassure the hospital's owners, the company agreed to immediately spend $1 million reroofing the main hospital building.

"One of the ways we could build trust was to invest that money," said partner Ray Minervini II.

The company then brought in a yoga studio and a coffee shop to draw visitors to what it calls Grand Traverse Commons. It has remodeled the south wing, now home to a fine Italian restaurant, an art gallery and condominiums, and it is starting work on the north wing.

How will Dix buildings be maintained?

Some buildings at Dix will be saved, but others are at risk. The legislature is considering renovating several buildings to keep 3,400 state Department of Health and Human Services employees working on Dix Hill. Unused buildings would be torn down.

Park advocates hope to renovate some historic structures for art galleries or other public uses, but they oppose things such as offices and condominiums. However, renovations would add to the bill of the park's owners.

The buildings could also be leased or sold to developers who would maintain or remodel them. In other states, special tax breaks have also helped.

Lesson: Want a big park and historic buildings? It's going to cost you.

Case study

State lawmakers eager to get rid of former state hospitals have often sold them for token amounts to a local government, nonprofit group or public agency that hoped to redevelop them.

Still, experts warn that a free property can end up being very expensive.

In 2002, the state of Massachusetts sold the Northampton State Hospital property for $1 to Hospital Hill Development LLC, a corporation set up by a nonprofit development company and a quasi-public agency to manage the site.

The final cost of redeveloping one-fifth of the 500-acre property is about $28 million, including removing asbestos and lead paint, updating water and sewer lines and tearing down a number of historic buildings, according to the city's economic development coordinator, Teri Anderson.

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