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	2009.11.13  11.19 pennhurst institute of fear Pennhurst opened in 1908 and was a State School and Hospital, for both the mentally and physically disabled.. Its location: a small city in Pennsylvania called spring city. The building built by Phillip H. Johnson sits right on the border between Chester County and Montgomery County. Pennhurst's property is massive, covering over 1,400 acres. Created to house 3,500 patients at a time, Pennhurst was the largest asylum in Pennsylvania. Most of the buildings were linked by an underground tunnel system designed for transportation of handicapped patients Their electricity was generated by an on-site power plant. Also a cemetery and a mourge just to name a few lays on the property. Half of Pennhurst's patients were committed by the government and the other half.. were brought there by they're parents and just left to do whatever the institution wanted with them. A large number of the first individuals admitted where allegedly violently insane with homicidal and suicidal tendencies, criminals, manics and much more... In the early 1970s rumors started floating around that the staff was physically and sexually abusing the residents. for example, a 1968 report by NBC called "Suffer the Little Children" Terry Lee Halderman filed the first lawsuit of its kind in the United States, Pennhurst State School and Hospital vs. The mentally retarded. on behalf of herself and all other residents of Pennhurst, The complaint alleged that pennhurst used cruel and unusual punishments. The rooms wore over flooded with patients in one building in an area that there should have been no more than 16 individuals there were 75 in that one space. forcing them to stay in storage rooms and hallways. Many of them died.. many used for experiments.. Even after the reports of abuse and neglect Pennhurst continued to operate until 1986 and a court order issued them to close its doors. Since then the buildings have been abandoned, up until recently. When the owner of "the Bates motel" Randy Bates, purchased the property and plans to turn it into a haunted attraction called "Pennhurst Institute Of Fear" Opening this coming October (2010). I can't think of a better use for the building myself.. Although I do hope Bates keeps the theme the asylum has already. If you haven't seen pictures of it yet try http://www.opacity.us/gallery65_forgotten.htm#image2248 this site has amazing photography of almost the entire property.. If that don't get you interested then try doing a little of your own research, once you start you'll be hooked for hours... Written by jennifer marks 11/13/09 Mood: yes