Historic Oregon State Hospital building undergoing rehabilitation
The J Building at Oregon State Hospital is 126 years old, the oldest building in the complex. It served as the filming location for the 1975 movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest with Jack Nicholson. Consultants had determined that the building was unsafe, obsolete and in danger of collapsing if there were an earthquake.
The building underwent asbestos abatement and lead paint removal before being reinforced with steel rebar, new wooden beams and sprayed concrete. The interior core of the building has to get strengthened in order to pass seismic review, fire codes and safety codes.
More than half of the building will need to come down to make way for a new $280 million psychiatric hospital, but the sections being reinforced and remodeled will be incorporated into the new building. Hoffman Construction Co. of Portland is leading the construction of the new 620-bed hospital.
The sections of the building that are being preserved were chosen for their historical architecture that was developed by Dr. Thomas Kirkbride of Pennsylvania, a pioneer in the field of national standards for mental hospitals in the 1800s. The remodeled section will be home to administrative offices, patient program space, a mental health museum and a resting place for the cremated remains of over 3,000 patients who died at the hospital up through the 1970s.
For the full story, go to Statesman Journal.
