The Bartonville State Hospital: Ghosts and Asbestos
Usually the abandoned Bartonville State Hospital scares away those not wanting to experience ghosts and spirits. But the cost of asbestos removal could have been the more frightening part for an investor who pulled out of a plan to turn the old asylum for some of Illinois’ more severely mentally ill patients into a tourist attraction.
Richard Weiss, a Missouri man who purchased the 109-year-old campus of buildings three years ago from the state with no money down and no payments to the state until 2018, announced one of his investors had withdrawn from the project for “business reasons,” according to the Peoria Journal Star.
The main campus building, the Bowen Building, was abandoned by Illinois in 1972 and must be cleaned of asbestos before it can be rehabilitated — at a cost of more than $200,000. Weiss, who is said to have many ideas for the property, had hoped to offer tours of the building that would allow for money to start coming in for the necessary repairs, but the building was closed two years ago by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the state’s Department of Public Health.
No tours, no money.
It’s a familiar story, unfortunately. Rehabbing old buildings often are difficult projects financially because of the removal of asbestos, which was considered at one time essential for insulation. Even though new construction was forbidden to use asbestos beginning in the 1970s, many older properties like the Bowen Building and other buildings at the former Bartonville State Hospital still contain the deadly material.
Weiss had hoped the town of Bartonville would pay for the abatement of asbestos, but the town is holding off until it is assured of a financially viable plan for the hospital, maybe one more certain than being dependent on the paranormal.
But let’s not leave Bartonville State Hospital just yet. Not without a story from its past. This one, involving a mute resident without a name other than A. Bookbinder, nicknamed “Old Book,” and a former gravedigger at the hospital who had himself died and was about to be buried on the grounds.
“In the midst of the commotion,” Dr. [George] Zeller once wrote, “a wailing voice was heard and every eye turned toward the Graveyard Elm whence it emanated. Every man and woman stood transfixed, for there, just as had always been the case, stood Old Book, weeping and moaning with an earnestness that outrivaled anything he had ever shown before.”
After a few moments of this, Dr. Zeller summoned some men to remove the lid of the coffin, convinced that Old Book could not be inside of it. The lid was lifted and as soon as it was, the wailing sound completely stopped. Inside of the coffin lay the body of Old Book…. unquestionably dead. It was said that every eye looked upon the still corpse and then over to the Graveyard Elm. The apparition had vanished.
“It was awful, but it was real,” Dr. Zeller continued. “I saw it; 100 nurses saw it and 300 spectators saw it.”
A few days later, the Graveyard Elm mysteriously began to wither and die. In spite of efforts to save it, the tree declined over the next year until it was completely dead. Later, after the dead limbs had dropped, workmen tried to remove the rest of the tree, but stopped working after the first cut of the ax caused the tree to emanate an “agonized, despairing cry of pain.” After that, Dr. Zeller suggested the tree be burned. However, as soon as the flames started around the tree’s base, the workers quickly put them out. They later told Zeller that they heard a sobbing and crying sound coming from it.
Many old buildings deserve preservation and new life, but not at the expense of the health of others. While the dangers of asbestos may not have been known at the time of the construction of the Bartonville State Hospital, the link between asbestos and mesothelioma is clear and understood worldwide.
It’s time to preserve the living and Ban Asbestos Now.
Asbestos Removal