The sights of Worcester

One of the most intriquing sites to see in Worcester are the remains of the older Worcester State Hospital. This complex was apparently an example of Kirkbride Buildings, and the Worcester site is represented in about haf of the photographs in the slide show at the kirkbridge site.

The crumbling remains are part of the current State Hospital campus on the Biotech Park side of the campus. It's easier to get to by way of the Bioteach roads. The view from the clock tower must have been truly breathtaking back before UMASS Medical was constructed and White City became an eye-sore. Like any place else in Worcester, you can get here by turning at Dunkin' Donuts and going up hill.

For Foucault fans, the complex includes what seems to have been a panopticon. For non-Foucault fans, this was a round building with places for inmates around the walls and a place for a guard or, in this case a nurse or orderly, to be able to watch any of the inmate s at any time.

For X-files fans, one episode based in Worcester MA features a hospital with an entrance and clock tower that very closely resemble the Worcester Sanatorium building. I belive this was the second season episode Excelsis Dei, but there were at least two X-files episodes that featured action in a Worcester hospital setting and I'm not so interested that I'll put in the necessary google time to figure this out.