Cuckoo's Nest to be Torn Down

Oregon State Hospital To Be Demolished.

Oregon State picture courtesy Katr67

Oregon State Hospitals 125-year-old main building, which featured in the 1975 film, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, is to be torn down and replaced by a new complex. Built in 1883 as the Oregon State Insane Asylum, much of the original structure is still in use.

The state decided in 2006 to build a new, $300 million, 620-bed hospital at the site of the oldest and most dilapidated part of the complex, the J Building. The front of the building, including the cupola, will be preserved as a museum on the history of mental health care. Construction of the Salem facility is set to begin in 2009, and be completed by 2011.

Time magazine carried an informative story on the planned demolition and rebuilding plans. More information can also be found at Rob Finch website, Oregon's forgotten hospital, that hosts a good slide show of pictures from in and around the hospital site.