Kings Park Psychiatric Center Smoke Tower Brought Down

John Mitty Wednesday, March 27, 2013

The Kings Park Psychiatric Center is something of a historical landmark in Kings Park on Long Island.  The institute closed down in the 1990s, but was a significant location when it first opened in 1885.  At the time, many mental institutes were overcrowded and used inhumane tactics to try to control their occupants.  The residents of Kings Park Psychiatric Center were given more space, cleaner living conditions, and different tasks to do which allowed them to take responsibility and spend time outdoors.  The facility was run as a “farm colony,” and the residents tended livestock and grew crops.

The Kings Park Psychiatric Center also had its own power plant, and thus the smoke stack.  For years, the residents of the area have debated whether to remove the old psych center buildings and how to do it safely.  They were constructed using asbestos, which poses health risks when destruction releases the substances into the air.  Today, the tower was purposefully collapsed, but the rest of the psych center buildings are still standing.  Whether they will be brought down in the future or not is still up for debate.  In the meantime, they will continue to remind passersby of a piece of Long Island history.

jmitty@longislandyellowpages.com

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