Kings Park Psychiatric Center: Then and now

August 3, 2012 2:08 PM

Kings Park Psychiatric Center once was a bustling complex, housing a large spacious community of patients and staff. Visiting family members were a common presence, patients and their attendants gardened the grounds, and buildings were filled to capacity. It even had its own on-site fire station.

We revisited the complex in August 2012, and found the buildings long since abandoned, save for two, which still housed a facility for the mentally ill.

Mother Nature has forced a demolition of sorts on the buildings in the complex, and in late July 2012, New York State joined in, beginning an incremental demolition of 15 of the dilapidated structures.

During our visit, we painstakingly recreated a sampling of historical photos, preserving a look at KPPC as it was in its heyday compared to the way it stood just before demolition. -- By Julie Cappiello