Locked up in lockdown: historic prisons and asylums as alternative housing with adaptive re-use challenges

Abstract

This study examined two existing buildings as examples of progressive nineteenth century institutional design. The West Virginia Penitentiary at Moundsville is a strong example of the Auburn model of prison design. The Weston State Hospital, also in West Virginia and known originally as the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, belongs to the Kirkbride model of asylum design. Both building types constitute a significant yet often ignored place in shelter and housing history. Both buildings now exist in liminal states by not being used for their original purposes; neither have strong advocates to shape their re-use. Currently, the buildings are used for tourist and police training purposes. Beyond economic disincentives, this paper argues that adaptive re-use challenges may be due to specific memories and shame associated with their original uses as institutions.

Keywords:

• adaptive re-use
• historic preservation

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gregory Galford

Gregory Galford AIA is an Architect and an assistant professor of Interior Architecture at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, PA. He is currently working toward his doctoral degree at the University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, with an emphasis in alternative types of housing. Mr Galford’s research is focused on architectures of control and surveillance and how that influences behavior.

Gina Gould Peek

Gina Gould Peek is Assistant Professor and Cooperative Extension Housing and Consumer Specialist in the College of Human Sciences at Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK. In her role, Dr Peek helps to educate target audiences how to reduce exposure to environmental contaminants in the home, acquire and maintain affordable housing, maximize satisfaction given housing, and manage household demands on natural resources.