THE NEW LUNATIC ASYLUM.

Evening Post, Volume VIII, Issue 306, 30 January 1873, Page 2

THE NEW LUNATIC ASYLUM.

Tne" erection 'of this building, which will be a credit to the province, and the best of its kind in the colony, is nearly completed." For about five monfchß it has been in hand, and in another four weeks we may expect that it will be ready for occupation by the patients. Those who have seen it will give the contractors, Messrs; Halley and ' Ewing, credit for having pushed on the work quickly, and for having performed it well. Some idea, perhaps, of the size . of the building may be gathered by our readers when we say that it contains Somewhere about 300,000 feet of timber, covers more ground' than the Provincial Buildings', and is the largest ever put up at one time in Wellington. It 'is built in four aides on' a square, one side of which faces the north, and from which there is a charming view of Wellington and the harbor. In the centre of this north side is the principal entrance, and above ib is ' the only two Btoried portion of the building. At either ,of the corners at this side are large bow r windows of the day rooms of the patients. A considerable portion of this front (which is 217 feet wide) is verandah'd, and the windows are all fitted with outside Venetian ,blinds. There is no superfluous ornamentation to be seen inside or outside the building, but the whole is plain, good, substantial, and comfortable. Inside all is clean, light, and airy, with nothing of the prison , or madhouse look ; and to the unfortunates who have for so many years been coopedup in the close, dark, musty, dry -rotted dens of the Karori house, the new building will appear as an enchanted palace of vast extent. It looks in truth an "asylum j" it will be, we believe, a curative establishment. At least, relatives of those suffering from the direst affliction will have the satisfaction of knowing that patients will not bs any longer condemned to dreary confinement in a place where the health of the body cannot be improved or the mind be engaged and amused. - Entering by the front entrance we find opening out of a large hall on the right, a visitors' room, about 12ft by 14ffc, and on the left, a room of the same size, that will be for the surgeon, a kind 'of dispensary. Behind each of these rooms is an attendants' room, 12ft by 12ft, also opening right and left out of the entrance hall. Above these four rooms and the hall is an upper floor containing apartments for the master and matron. Both these upper and down stairs rooms are tastefully finished, , papered and painted, ' have slate mantle pieces, and most * of them Sre furnished with fireplaces. " * Passing through the entrance hall, we come upon -a long -corridor running right and left. The right is for the female patients ; opening from it are their bed and bathroom^, &<s., and at the end is their day room.^ The left corridor is for .the male pa-, dtienfe; arid,;lifee, Jne others, leads to their hSsarfOus' apartments."* * Id was originally in* • tended that there should be bedrooms "on each side of the corridors, but for the pre>

sent only the rooms on one side have been ! ! biiilfc, the space for the olbera being now a j part of the corridors, -which ars consequently 18 feet wide, aad wili make plea* sant and airy promenades in wet weather. At the extreme ends of the corridor are the day rooms, 30ft by 20ft each, with fire places and three windows. These rooms, ?.nd the centre two-storey portion of the building project in front about twenty feet from the remainder of the building, and between them on each side are verandahs fully seven feet wide and 50 feefc long. The wall 3 between the patients' bedrooms are made of concrete bearded over, so that very little sound will travel throughf them, and the floor boat'ds of each room are laid separately, that is, they are not continued from one room under the wall to the next room. In each of the doors of these rooms, and in almost every door in ths building, is a small round hole, larger in3ide than out, so that when the doers are closed the attendants can without opening them, look in and see the whole apartment. The avails of the bedrooms and corridors are of red pine, but the day rooms they are tastefully papered. The side wings of the square include on each side one bed room, 22ft by 18ft, for aged or melancholy patients whom it may be better not to place alone ; baths, to which hot and cold water will be laid on, lavatories, closets, and two rooms for violent, and two for dirty patients. The floors of the latter are sloped, and there are gratings at the lowest corner so as to en.ible tho rooms to be well washed out with water, which would run off down the grating. The rooms for the violent patients might, perhaps, b© improved by the careful removal of all projections and sharp edges against which, in their violence, the inmates might seriously hurt themselvesi The policy is also questionable, of putting sharp cornered square wooden seats in these rooms, as a violent patient falling against them might be injured if not killed. The fourth side of the square, namely, that at the back, 13 divided into rooms for stores, washhouse 20fi; by 15ft, a carpenter's workshop 25ft by 15ft, a shoemaker's ahop, 15ft by loft, a painter's shop a little smaller, and a toolhouse. This portion of the building will be by no means the least uaeful, as in ib patients will be able to obtain manual occupation which will engage their attention, and thus perhaps assist 1 their cure by preventing their brooding over imaginary troubles. Acroß3 the centre of the Bquare, from north to south, is a large block of buildings to which access can be gained either from the square or from the front corridors. It includes a large hall, fo»* dining in, or for entertainments, 50ft long by 24ft wide, the walls of which arc 24ft high, and the ceiling pitched high, thus giviDg it a lofty appearance. It is a handsome room, larger, we believe, than the Provincial Council Chamber, and with an arched and orna-, mented roof. On each side of this hall is a passage leading to a kitchen, 36ft by 16ft, fitted up with a Leamington range. Behind it is a scullery and store, each 16ffc by 10ft, and larder and dairy. The workmanship shown in the whole building i 3 excellent. The timber, most of which came from the Sound, is worthy of 1 notice. Owing to a delay before the work was commenced, the timber, which had arrived some time previously, had been, when used, stacked some time, and had got seasoued. It is beaufc'ful wood, the boards all looking as if they had each been carefully selected. The brick work of the chimneys is also well done. It reminds .one of firsb-clasß home work. The "tuck > pointing" gives it a fresh, neat, ornamental' 'look. Altogether we think Wellington will have reason to be proud of its Asylum. It ia a credit to the architect, Mr. Toxward, to ths builders, and to the Government that had the humanity and "pluck" to commence and carry it out. At the same time we may remind our readers that a bare bnilding, however well designed and constructed, requires something to. finish ifc —prints and maps ou the walls, books on the shelves, illußtrated.papers, fern boxes: in the corridors, flowers in the verandahs, and trees .and shrubs and flowers in the grounds ontside. These the public could supply, each civing V .little. The, givers would feel no loss, the Asylum would be beautified,' and the utiforfcutiate itlmStes less reminded 'of their infirmities, an£f, donse* quently, more likely to improve. .. • '