The Clarinda Treatment Complex was built in 1884 as the Clarinda State Hospital in
Clarinda, Iowa in southwest
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
. It was the third
asylum in the state of Iowa. The hospital's many name variations include: The Clarinda Lunatic Asylum, The Clarinda State Asylum, The Clarinda Asylum for the Insane, and The Clarinda Mental Health Institute. It was built under the
Kirkbride Plan. The original plan for patients was to hold alcoholics, geriatrics, drug addicts, mentally ill, and the criminally insane. In 2009, it was made public that, to save money, the state may close one of the four hospitals in Iowa. On June 30, 2015, the hospital facility was shut down and all patient services terminated.
The Clarinda Academy, owned by Sequel Youth Services, is the sole occupant of the former hospital grounds.
Description
The Kirkbride is made of red brick with white trim in some areas. The
administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
section has a large
clocktower and is kept in good condition to provide people with an idea of what the mental institution looked like when it was completed in 1886. Although the hospital looks like it did in 1886, the hospital has had many things replaced such as windows. Amenities have also been added such as electricity, running water, and other buildings including infirmaries and a minimum security prison that was established in 1980. Although things have been replaced and added, however, much of the original
woodwork
Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinet making (cabinetry and furniture), wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning.
History
Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials ...
and
tile
Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...
floors in the hospital have been kept.
History
Prior to the construction of Clarinda, Iowa had two mental hospitals, in
Independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
and
Mt. Pleasant, but these were overcrowded. Recognizing the need for a third, a state commission selected the city of Clarinda to serve as its home in 1884. William Foster and Henry F. Liebbe of
Des Moines
Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...
were retained as
architects
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
for the new facility. Construction began July 4, 1885, and the first patients of the then all-male institution took occupancy in 1888.
The patients at the hospital were thought to be no longer human, and therefore, many were abused, and some even died. The reasons for patient deaths were gruesome lobotomies, improper food and water, starvation and dehydration, abuse, surgeries, extreme climate, and various other forms of treatment.
The former hospital grounds are now home to the Clarinda Academy, a juvenile detention facility serving southwest Iowa and eastern Nebraska.
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Hospital buildings completed in 1884
Psychiatric hospitals in Iowa
Kirkbride Plan hospitals
Clarinda, Iowa