Fans plan to hug historic Minnesota mental hospital

ST. PAUL – Time is running out for the old state mental hospital in Fergus Falls, a huge wedding cake of a building originally constructed to bring light and air into psychiatric wards.

So today, the building’s advocates plan to gather on its grounds for a giant group hug around the blocks-long, horseshoe-shaped structure. Friends of the Kirkbride are hoping the event will bring attention to the 124-year-old building’s plight.

The old hospital is one of a dwindling number of asylums built under the philosophy of Dr. Thomas Kirkbride, who wanted to humanize treatment of the mentally ill by creating mental institutions akin to resort hotels with sprawling grounds. The huge buildings have been disappearing across the country as approaches to treating mental illness have evolved and communities find themselves hard-pressed to reuse the mammoth facilities.

Now vacant, the former Fergus Falls Regional Treatment Center has been used as a backdrop for several horror movies. City officials are poised to begin planning its demolition unless a viable plan emerges in the next few months. A $7 million state grant earmarked to tear down or help fix up the building expires at the end of 2014.

“It’s an architectural masterpiece,” said Maxine Schmidt, a 78-year-old retired church secretary who has led more than 5,500 people through the building on historic tours since 2005.

The push to save the Kirkbride began with Schmidt, who has collected more than 4,000 signatures on petitions. The hospital building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was built between 1888 and 1907. The Preservation Alliance of Minnesota now considers it one of the most endangered historic places in the state.

Jean Roen, a member of Friends of the Kirkbride, said she hopes the group hug will drive home the importance of saving the building. She said more than 800 people took short tours of the building when a music festival was held on the grounds earlier this summer.

“It was built to last 400 years, and we’ve only gotten 100 down,” Roen said.

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