There are not many people that could tell you where the photo above was taken. Itis unfortunate because itis an image from inside one of the greatest buildings in the City of Buffalo.
One of our readers recently sent us a series of photos taken of the inside of the Richardson Complex. I guess at one point there were guided tours through the buildings. Unfortunately, these days there are no tours inside the psych center, but there are fascinating guided tours around the outside of this awesome complex. Our viewer also passed along a note explaining where the photos were taken to give other viewers some context as to what they are seeing.
All of the photos that I am passing along were taken in the West wing of the building. They start off with a series of shots of very musty cement floors and brick walls. Those shots were taken in the basement of the complex. The floors in the basement were like ice rinks at the time. They were caked with slime and were very tricky to maneuver around on. Due to the lack of electricity, navigation was also tricky. When our flashlights were turned off for photographic purposes, there was no trace of light as all of the windows were boarded up tight. There was a heavy mist in the air that really affected visibility. The whole experience was very eerie. The tunnels were never ending and there were side rooms leading to more tunnels everywhere we turned. We were then led to the first floor, which appeared to have been where the daily business duties must have been performed. There was a mail center, rooms filled with old desks, lockers, old medical equipment including a Master Shocker and a chair that was probably where you sat if you were about to find out what the Master Shocker was (see attached slideshow.)
From there we ascended to the third floor, beams of light started shooting out from the windows located at the top landing. It was really something to step into this brightly lit floor. The sun flooded all around us as we continued on the tour. This floor was filled with tiny little rooms that used to house the patients. When you walked into one of them you could just feel a lump growing in your throat. Each wooden stable door had a tiny built in screen for viewing purposes. I swear that the old musty smell that permeated these rooms was from human waste that absorbed into the buildingis essence. These rooms were like the size of modern day closets. We felt claustrophobic just standing in one of them. Every once in a while we would run across a huge communal area with monster windows and large fireplaces. There were wheelchairs wherever we looked. The paint on the walls was peeling off which only added to the sadness that surrounded us at all times. We couldnit help but think of the history of this place and all the old souls that had suffered here. There were also these long narrow hallways that let to these sterile shower facilities. Actually, the whole place was sterile. There were concrete floors throughout. The colors that were chosen were unreal. The walls were painted a variety of violets and oranges, along with bright yellows and shades of turquoise. As if being a patient here was not enough.
We left that floor and scaled the stairs to the attic. This new cavernous floor was so different from the rest of the building. There were large wooden beams and ladders leading to the rafters and pigeon dung covered the floor. More than anything else, there was a hot musty smell that almost suffocated us. A few offshoot rooms up there would have made great sets for an old horror movie. There were millions of tiny particles floating in the air. They traveled through the beams of light coming in through the broken windows giving the room a dreamlike appearance. It was all we could do to leave this awesome structure, knowing that we might never get another chance to see it first hand.
Since we toured the facility, I hear that many of the old doors have been filled in with concrete bricks due to continued erosion of the exterior and interior of the buildings. I was saddened to hear about the recent lightning strike to the old EB Green house on the property, so I figured that this was as good of a time as any to share these photos. I enjoyed the outside photos from the tour that your sight provided a couple weeks back. I hope these give you a better idea as to the treasure that lays buried inside. Hopefully others will finally come to the realization that we are sitting on an architectural goldmine… before it is too late.