South Avenue at Elmwood Avenue

About the Location

Where South Avenue meets Elmwood Avenue is a large block of property that is occupied by Rochester Psychiatric Center, The Al Sigl Center Wolk Campus, Rochester Science Park, the John L. Norris Addiction Treatment Center and a number of other smaller industrial buildings and healthcare facilities. A notable feature about this property is the number of large abandoned buildings it contains, the most prominent being the 17-story Terrence Building (a former part of the Rochester State Hospital) and the sprawling Walters Building (part of the former Psychiatric Hospital). For more information about the active parts of the campus, please visit their respective articles above, otherwise, continue reading for information about the many abandoned buildings you can find on this property.

The Abandoned Psychiatric Hospital

The abandoned psychiatric hospital consists of several buildings on the campus, including the massive Terrence Building and Walters Building. The buildings are well-secured, but while security patrols the campus regularly, they will not stop you from walking around the buildings or taking pictures. They are mostly there to protect the active parts of the campus and to prevent people from trespassing onto "sensitive" areas, like the Forensic Center, Norris Rehab Center, or the Landmark Industries buildings. These buildings are located near the center of the campus and are painted a creamy-white. If you are caught taking pictures of or intruding upon these facilities, you will be removed from the property, so it is best to avoid them completely.

On the northernmost side of the campus, down Elmwood Avenue, you will see the Terrence Building and its adjacent parking lot which is in use by the University of Rochester as auxiliary parking; there is typically a parking officer from U. of R. sitting in a van in the lot. The Science Building is a 17-story office-type building that is well-secured but has some fairly interesting features. The main entrance is a large glass lobby on a rapidly crumbling "floating" concrete platform, above which is a sign that reads "...ENCE BUILDING". On the right side of the main entrance, there is an engraving indicating that the building was once the part of the Rochester Hospital, which seems to have been moved to the new building directly to the west of the Terrence Building.

Towards the southern side of the campus and just south of the Forensic Center is the abandoned Walters Building, which is what seems to have been the original psychiatric center. Like most of the other buildings on campus, it is well secured and entrance would require force. Again, security guards patrol the area but don't mind visitors walking around and looking. (On a side note, I have personally spoken to a security officer who warned me not to enter the building as it is structurally unsound. He mentioned that they do not check regularly for intruders, so if you get hurt, you're on your own. Take that as you wish. -Tony)

There are several other smaller abandoned and semi-abandoned buildings on the property, including a factory/warehouse of some sort and a large house at 1850 South Ave. One particularly strange feature of the property is the Epileptic Gorilla statue that is located within the Al Sigl Center campus. Be sure to check this out if you have the chance.

A former RIT student, Jennifer Kunz, photographed some of the abandoned RPS buildings. Unfortunately, the pages have been taken down by RIT since her graduation. Some of them are still accessible via the Wayback Machine:

Two images from the power plant: Sink; Office
Introductory page.
An account of Kunz's explorations.
More information about the history of the facility.
There are also several photos of the psychiatric center on her website.

Other Photos of the Campus

External Links

From Almshouse to Asylum: The Early History of Rochester Psychiatric Center
Map of Insane Asylum, Almshouse, & Penitentiary. This map illustrates the original location of the County's facilities for the mentally ill. The notations at the bottom of the map refer to excavations made in 1984 when Highland Park was expanded, described in detail by our Highland Cemetery page.

Comments:

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2008-04-27 11:27:53 so I just found out that the big building is in fact called the "Terrence Building" and not the "Science Building". please ignore the map where it
says "science building"; if I get the chance to I'll try to update that. —TonyFolenta