Broadview Developmental Center

The Broadview Developmental Center was a psychiatric hospital built in 1939 near Broadview Heights, Ohio, United States. Constructed under the Works Progress Administration as part of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, it functioned as a Veterans Administration Hospital until 1966 when it was sold to the state of Ohio. The Broadview Developmental Center was then converted into a psychiatric hospital, and remained open until 1993 when the prevailing opinion on mental health shifted from institutional care to community-based care, and the hospital lost its funding. The building was demolished in 2006.

Broadview Veterans Administration Hospital
The hospital originally opened in 1939, under the control of the United States Veterans Administration. While it performed traditional functions by caring for the numerous veterans of World War II, it also served as housing for victims of tuberculosis. Because the disease was highly contagious, most infected persons were separated from the general public. They were often entered into sanitaria such as Broadview, where they could be cared for without threat to the at-large population.

Designed to be self-sufficient, the campus included a full cafeteria and kitchen, dental offices, a beauty shop, and a chapel. It also included small cottages on the property, where patients who required less supervision were housed. Separate wards were built for children and maternity patients. This minimized contact between patients and the outside world, thus reducing risk of infection. Most of the staff had offices on campus.

With the discovery of Streptomycin in 1946, the usefulness of these facilities began to wane. The antibiotic proved a potent treatment for tuberculosis, significantly reducing the risk of wide-spread contagion. This limited Broadview Hospital's use to the federal government, which sold the facility to the state of Ohio in 1966.

Broadview Developmental Center
The state government promptly converted the hospital into a psychiatric institution for patients with mental retardation and other developmental handicaps. It operated without major incident for nearly three decades, avoiding major controversy despite the general climate of abuse and misconduct that hung over mental health institutions at the time. The hospital's almost closed doors in 1989 when could not maintain it's ICF/MR license for mental health treatment. The administration applied for a four-year extension which was granted.

Like many other psychiatric institutions, the Broadview Developmental Center became a victim of deinstitutionalization. Backlash against social welfare programs, combined with the increasing availability of antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs, led to significant cuts in federal and state mental health spending. The majority of the hospital's patients were transferred into community-based programs, and the hospital closed in 1993.

Abandonment
The building was abandoned almost immediately. Large amounts of medical and office equipment were left within, personal artifacts belonging to former staff and patients, and numerous filing cabinets filled with patient records. The abandoment caused a large amount of controversy, as the majority of former patients had been released to community-based oranizations (most residents did not have any family what so ever), and all records of their treatment, progress, and illness have been lost in the subsuquent clean-up and renovation.

Broadview became a popular target for vandalism, and also attracted paranormal investigators as rumors began to surface that the facility was haunted by former patients. Its windows were boarded and the city erected a chain-link fence to keep out would-be explorers.

It remained in this condition until 1995, when the city of Broadview Heights purchased the Developmental Center from the state of Ohio for $750,000. The city tore down many of the outlying structures including the cottages, and built a new police station on the grounds. The building was partially renovated and transformed into a community center with an indoor swimming pool and recreational facilities. During the renovation, city inspectors discovered a significant asbestos threat, forcing a temporary delay in construction while the hazardous substance was removed.

After the building was cleared of asbestos, further construction projects were approved. The grounds of Broadview Developmental Center are now home to Broadview Heights' city hall as well. The building was scheduled for demolition in early 2001, but financial troubles in the city government forced delays. A no-interest government loan was secured in 2005, though, and the demolition process began in early 2006. The city plans to expand the recreation center, and develop the campus into a center for muncipal government.