Seaside Regional Center in Waterford, Connecticut.
(photo + submission by thesecretmountain)
Seaside Regional Center was designed by Cass Gilbert for the treatment of children with bone and glandular tuberculosis using a procedure called heliotherapyby which was the prolonged exposure to sun. In 1958 the tuberculosis program ended. In 1959 Seaside reopened as the Seaside Geriatric Hospital but in early 1961, admissions to Seaside Geriatric Hospital were stopped. In the spring the facility was converted into the Seaside Regional Center for the Mentally Retarded under the admin of the Dept. of Health- Office of Mental Retardation. In 1996 Seaside was closed for good.
The facility was showcased in the book Christmas in Purgatory, A Photographic Essay on Mental Retardation. It was written to show the deplorable condition in various state schools. The majority of the institutions in the book were not named. In the last chapter of the book one facility was named: the Seaside Regional Center. The institution was named because it was an example of how state schools should be run. The book commented on how the staff really cared for the patients and that there was never a real occasion of overcrowding like in other similar institutions.
Seaside Regional Center is still accesible for pedestrians via the ocean shore and it isis allowed to walk in the area around the buildings. Seaside was slated for demolition but as of June 2009 all of the buildings were still standing and in quite good shape. More photos from this set can be found here.