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P.S. Manteno was Illinois' largest state hospital. It was built in the late 1920s, I think opening in 1929. I respectfully would disagree with those referring to the buildings as "landmarks" or "historic." Study the architecture; they look like warehouses and that's exactly what they were -- for people. They are OLD but nothing of significance occurred at Manteno, other than a typhoid outbreak and thousands of mentally ill people being locked up. Not exactly the kind of thing worth remembering, in my opinion.

Yes, there were things for the patients to do, but there weren't many and they weren't always therapeutic. See how much the guys in "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" and you'll know what I mean. Also, some of the occupational things weren't safe or therapeutic. Patient labor was used to do things like clean the ashes from the power plants.

Diversatech is tasked with doing something to create jobs and benefit the area. If they have to tear down mental wards to do it, so be it. I'm interested in the history of mental health care but an awful lot of sorrow went on in those buildings. We agree to disagree about their historic value or lack thereof. Tearing them down is progress.

You do have a nice site, but all the pages don't open. Nice work.

You raise good points. I'm sorry to say, though, that there may be a good reason for tearing down buildings, especially if people are exploring. First, believe it or not, a site may be more attractive to a potential buyer, industry or developer if it's been leveled than if there's an abandoned hospital building on it.

Second, I think explorers know and accept the risks they take when the check out a place like Manteno. They know the risks and might not sue if they're hurt. But their families might not be as forgiving and may sue Diversatech or whoever 'til their head swims. Tearing down the building eliminates the hazard. In both cases, you have to put yourself in the shoes of a property owner.

While I don't believe everyone who is mentally ill belongs in a hospital, I think there are plenty of mentally ill people who do belong in a hospital -- long term. And once you tear down a place, it is years before a new one can be built -- if ever -- to help them. So I share your skepticism. Unfortunately, there are no easy answers.

I think one of the buildings should be saved and perhaps become home to a small museum about the hospital, or perhaps the local historical society could move there, though I'd bet they like being in downtown Manteno.

I agree that building homes is not a good idea. I think there is some halfway house there for troubled veterans, the veterans home, and also a home for kids who I think were sexually abused and also kids who were abusers. Not the kind of folks I'd want as neighbors.

I am well aware of the good intentions behind how places like Manteno and Kirkbride hospitals were built, and how they were a major improvement above other countries. They still fell far short.

And for your information, my family and I have to deal with a mentally ill mother-in-law. She suffered post-partum depression 30+years ago and has never snapped out of it. While this is a curable thing, my father-in-law has made no effort to get decent treatment for her because he grew up in a town where there was a Kirkbride asylum. Just about every one of his siblings worked there at some point, and despite the fact he's a teacher, he fears what may happen to his wife once she gets in the system.

So yes, those lobotomy and ECT are done only in extreme cases, but they were done enough.

You raised good points about them being the best that technology and psychiatry could provide at the time, and I agree.