Shadows

Sick.

That room has a very foreboding and wicked feel to it.

what is that thing that looks like a kiddie pool in the back there?

This is just adaptive equipment, y'all. Nothing wicked or evil about it. We use it all the time in special ed because people like it and are willing to use it because it's fun. It's for recreation and OT/PT. People have fun with it - it is not used for torture or human degradation. It only looks scary when you are looking for something negative and re-interpret this as something frightening - it is used every day across the U.S. and other countries, and people LIKE it.

This particular piece of equipment is called a "ball bath". You fill the piece of equipment with small colorful balls and folks love to sit in it for sensory activities. You have probably even seen it at your local Chuckie Cheese pizza parlor.

[Although, speaking of torture and human degradation, can you imagine working a shift in that humiliating, hot, scratchy Chuckie Cheese outfit? Now there's something I would never admit to MY grandchildren had I ever done it.]

See:
http://www.pct.edu/schools/hs/oc/facilities.htm
http://www.flaghouse.com/Prod_Images/p5338T.jpg
http://www.thechildrenscenteraz.org/Sensory_integration.htm

Yea, I was going to say that it looks like a ball pit we have at the YMCA

Lynne is absolutely right, there's nothing vicious about the ball pit - I think its the setting surrounding it that is wrong.

I went to pennhurst a bout 2 years ago and seeing this picture pretty much freaked me out cuz i remember being in that same exact room. Beautiful shot, plain beautiful

What Barbara said. Such an incongruous thing to have in a dark and threatening basement. I can only hope it was dumped here after the place closed but seeing some of the other images here makes me doubtful. Motts, I'm new to your site (stumbled across it tonight whilst googling around for an abandoned mental institution in my city in the UK) but your images are incredible and convey the 'feel' of these places in a way mere words never could. Your work is vital in making sure that people who'd never consider setting foot in a derelict building see these places for what they are - the good and bad side.

Emptyness, lonleyness fills this room like the shadows spread across the floor,

It's not so much the ball pit itself that gives me the willies, but the placement of it. Alone, in a cold room, this is very much a lonely chair shot. I get the sinking idea that children where placed in the ball pit and left alone in the name of "play time" because they wouldn't be able to hurt themselves. The idea that it could be used as a tool of neglect instead of what it was indented for makes me sad =(

Ack, did you not read what Lynne stated above? Also, I have noticed the lack of murals. Aren't there always murals in the play rooms? Maybe this is just a storage area.....?? (Albeit a very spooky storage area.....)

I still think it's just a storage area, not a play area...

Thanks, Tony. Hand it to me along with a cumezekyama, please, that's a dear child. :-)

FYI there were very few wards in the basements when I worked there. Most of these rooms were used for OT/PT or storage. Basement wards were actually just a few steps below street level. If this room was off a tunnel it was probably used for therapy. Now I can't vouch for anything before 1975 only after.

I been to Pennhurst many times. Seen this room, mabey some can tell about the mesh cage in the tunnels. It looks like a big bird cage, has one door and made out of mesh. If i remember right some where near the barber shop?

As this building has been abandoned for many years, and many people in and out, we have to keep in mind that items, furniture, etc. is moved... it is highly likely this PT equipment was moved...

One of the problems is the windows are boarded up. which is also making it alot of the basement darker. I have noticed alot of negative remarks at alot of sites regarding mental health and those who are developmentally disabled. as lynn and others have said some staff may not be the best, but many are wonderful. I have worked in group homes for meny years and I have also have been a patient in the hospital. I have had mostly good experences I have had two very bad experences. But that does not change the good staff they are still good and that is where I continue to go .

Playrooms in the basement... how disturbing...

Yes, I am now disturbed as well.

Wow, how disturbed would you be if you saw what was in MY basement? It's a playroom... kind of...

I get disturbed just thinking about it . . . . ;-)

Did anyone else see the battery on the landing of the stairs?? now what would that be for??

I take it you are unaware of what exactly is in Dr. Sketch's playroom or you wouldn't ask . . . . =8-o

I would have to agree that not all mental asylums are bad, but since no one really knows what happened..and the gov't wont release any information...people like to make up stories.. most being about abuse and neglect. And I dont know what happened hear..But i do live about 10 mins from here..I hear many stories about this place. And i dont believe its haunted or anything like that. But I do believe that maybe this was once one of those hospitals where they didnt treat their patients very well. I know now they have very nice hospitals..but i know that back then, they werent as knowledgable about the disabled and maybe they didnt give them the care they deserved.

You are totally correct. But if we try understand how this happened then we will may acquire the tools to keep it from happening again.

The government actually has released a lot of information. It is not an exaggeration to say that there are literally tons of accessible paperwork concerning Pennhurst. This was one of the three or four most famous court cases in my field (MR/DD/II). We had to memorize large chunks of the court information for graduate school back in the 80s (the Pennhurst court case actually occurred in the early 80's). Everyone in my field knows what "Youngberg v. Romeo" means. I am well familiar with Pennhurst, and even worked as a consultant for a corporation that is named after the court case.

A lot of bad things happened at Pennhurst but a lot of good things happened there. I know some people who worked there and I know some of the people who were involved in the lawsuit to have the place shut down. There is plenty of paperwork on this that is easy to locate, and it documents both the good and the bad. If you need any references let me know and I can find you info on both sides of the story. Or you can do a quick web check. It's always easier to find negative info (like with anything), but there's a lot of positive information out there as well. Many parents loved the place and were distraught when it closed. Other parents were thrilled and still celebrate the closure.

You are also giving more credit to some of the current facilities than they deserve for their care. As was the case in the past, facilities today do only as well as they are funded and as well as they are surveyed.

Where can these records be found? In the local library? I would like to learn more about this place.

Would those very nice hospitals be where we take grandma and grandpa when no one wants to be bothered? Yeah, I hear they're REAL nice!

cumezekyama? Wuzat? Gawd, all these new words!

lol...I agree Janice...

I STILL THINK THEY DID THE BEST THEY COULD FOR THAT TIME PERIOD AND WITH WHAT THEY HAD TO WORK WITH.

It seems like that they put a lot of the play rooms in the basement. Maybe to hide them from others seeing them in an active state. This picture seems to paint a picture in one's mind that they played in semi-dark to hide the childrens feeling of enjoyment, when they have a mental retardation and cant live/help/take care of themselves. And let them play in their fantasy world.

It makes you think what these kids were giving as entertainment or for play. And makes you think how did they play with the other mentally retardation kids. So sad....

BSMarcia - breathe deeply - relax - borrow my helmet. :-)

I can't take it anymore....gauging my eyes out right now. Please make it go away......

I should say the kids with mental disorder(s) instead of mental retardation.

is that a car battery?

Reminds me of the basement of the playschool I went to. No toys were there, just this cold kitchen. Nobody wanted to go down there but it was only there to keep kids separate and not have a huge ruckus.

No Way ! Please do not tell me that this is a swimming pool for the children to play in.

In the basement or whatever this horrid room is ? ! ? ! ? !

Signed: An American Soldier in Germany.

The sharp angular shadows do make the room look sinister. Great juxtaposition of a colorful plaything being slowly taken over by forboding elements - it's like they're gradually creeping down the stairs. The shadows of the steps almost look like teeth.

What's scarier, though, is when people assume that this dark, moldy, boarded up basement is where children were sent to "play". Analyzing and interpreting photos is one thing, but I wish people would realize that we're not looking at the objects or the room as they were actually used.

anyone else see a slight shadow of a man to the right of the steps?

What is up with the battery on the step

Wow....strange :) but awesome looking I wanna go there so badd.....

i can't beleive that so many people were treated like if they had no worth and so messed up. i am reading the letter that mr. lou chapman wrote regarding his two day stay at this facility. i can't help but feel so abandoned and lonely. so imagine being there for years feeling that way. god bless all the lost souls in that place.

does anyone see what looks like a small figure sitting in the right hand corner of the room by that board propped up against the wall? It looks like a child sitting down with knees up against chest.

The heater in the back of the baisement was not even enough to heat it up down there. . .

If anyone else looks around the website with the Chapman report, in the documents section, there are some responses to it.

Lynn...while i admit that there are some disturbing facilities across the nation, PA has learned & is still learning from the horrible experiences patients were subjected to while residents of Pennhurst. First & foremost....better oversight. PA leads the nation in incident managment & reporting of incidents that happen to MR/DD/II residents whose services are funded under Medicaid Waivers. Providers of service are held to "task" when issues of abuse, neglect & exploitation are discovered. When abuse, neglect &/or exploitation is confirmed through investigative discovery, staff responsible are often referred to local law enforcement. When gross neglegence is suspected/confirmed, providers are often de-licensed as a result. (Their operational license is revoked.)


a You are also giving more credit to some of the current facilities than they deserve for their care. As was the case in the past, facilities today do only as well as they are funded and as well as they are surveyed.

i just had a chill

this looks like a old shower room were they would walk down the stair well and take really long showers

Wow. This gallery spawned a lot of wonderful comments, debates, conversations, and observations. Only Opacity has the power to stir emotions like this.

the only thing that spooked me was the wierd rolly polly gymnastics thing in the middle...

Why would you have something like that in a concreat room???

This probably wasn't so horrible when it was well-lit. Maybe the staff was trying to make a "sunny" place for children to play when they could not go outside, either due to weather or disability?

Too freaking creepy!

Wow makes me wonder how many horror movies they watched before they built this place..its sooo creepy!