We drove up there on a cold, blustery day. It was sunny with snow cover. As soon as we entered the campus, another SUV came wheeling past. They were on some of the deserted paved roads and also the grass, so I knew they were unauthorized-or thought so. After a light recon of the western portion, I got out and snapped some pics and told my driver to meet me where we'd come in. I started to cross the fence and immediately an SUV showed up. It seemed that it was possibly another sight-seer so I just waited. Soon it was gone but then another small SUV with "SECURITY" emblazoned on it showed up. They advertised "dogs" on their vehicle. Strangely, though we were parked right at a locked gate and I was out of the vehicle, they paid us no mind and curiously drove around the gate on the grass and entered the campus proper. They too were soon out of sight. I boldly went ahead and entered the campus, going about halfway towards my first and main objective, the old hospital itself, also known as the "belltower" building. This was the oldest building and was made of red brick. It wasn't really Victorian in style and wasn't a Kirkbride, but it was classy even though I'd describe its style as "early institutional". This is a park-like setting and I made it halfway and was photographing some deer which were lounging right on the front lawn under some Pines. The first SUV was watching me from a semi-hidden position. I headed back towards the old TV station and clicked some more pics. My ride picked me up in the station parking lot and we gave it up.
My guess is that the first vehicle we saw were blatantly trespassing and somebody called them in. Security showed up about the time we got there, ruining our fun. There is so much history there and I'd love to see the inside of the old hospital before it's torn down. My guess is that will be soon.
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