rover's world

Not long after arriving in Storrs as a student of the Univ. of Connecticut I learned of the other campus in Mansfield 3 miles away, the Mansfield Training School run by the state’s Department of Mental Retardation. Ironically, set in a more rustic landscape and made up of scores of marvelously designed buildings, it is the MTS that seemed much grander. It is in fact today listed on the National Registry of Historic Places recognizing its architecture and engineering.

http://www.nationalregisterofhistor.../districts.html

This was 1984, and not much time passed before I became aware of the lawsuit challenging the state’s care of its mentally retarded residents in institutions, specifically the care provided at the MTS. Those lawsuits lead ultimately to the complete closure of this facility in 1993.



I have often had the opportunity to walk on the MTS campus, and have done so captivated by historic atmosphere that prevails there. I walk with thoughts of those who had lived and were cared for there, and have also attempted to research some of that history. The internet is full of information containing references to the MTS. Founded and built to provide treatment in the 19th century institutional manner, it was just a matter of time until our society matured and gained the knowledge to better care for the developmentally disabled.






In November of 2004 I took my camera to the MTS in an attempt to capture it as it stands today. The core group of buildings still stands, trapped between historic significance and strained state budgets. As a result, it appears that they have been left in neglect. Space is used for storage of items from the state and its sister campus across town. There has been some refurbishment and new construction of building around this center of campus. The MTS is now the home of some of the facilities operations for UConn, a minimum security prison and a number of community group homes run for the care of the developmentally disabled. My focus though was on the physical condition of the buildings and the images presented by the large institutional structures, the broken windows, locked doors, crumbling mortar, falling bricks, the copper and cast iron fixtures. I wanted to see the little bits of the campus that tell the story of the whole. Among the decay I often found beauty, the patterns of vines claiming the facades, the mosaic of chipped paint on a fire hydrant, the twisted rusted railings all have become something new and unique from their pasts.


In doing my research I also have found that I am not the only person poking around this campus. There are many open doors and broken windows in these buildings. I found the work of another photographer who has crossed threshold of these doors, past the line that I feel is trespassing, and has posted pictures from the inside of some of the buildings.

http://www.livejournal.com/communit...uin/260286.html



After my final photography trip to MTS in 2004 I stopped at the store today to buy some peas for my son. I ran in, grabbed two bags with the Jolly Green Giant on them and headed to the register. I realized immediately that the young man who asked me if I wanted a paper or plastic bag was developmentally disabled. I then became aware that there also were a number of counselors escorting their clients around the store helping them do the shopping for their homes. I couldn’t help to think that if this was during the height of the MTS my bagger and his peers would be living a structured life with little contact in the community in which they lived. As I walked out, when he smiled and wished me a good day, I knew he was in a much better place. I smiled back, and said “Thank you, you too.”

On November 5, 2005 I returned to the Mansfield Training School to see what, if anything had changed. The answer is not much. Many of the broken windows and open doors have been boarded up. There is more damage to the facilities, sidewalks heaved open revealing the power and service tunnels below. But no action has been taken slow the harmful effects of time. I will process the film I shot and add more images to add to the story of the MTS in 2005 in short time.