(From "Picturesque Kalamazoo," E.E. Labadie; printed by Kalamazoo Publishing Company, 1909)
Van Deusen (center) in context, 1959. Clockwise from top left: The Female Department, Monroe, the greenhouse, the corner of Herman Ostrander, Linda Richards Nursing Hospital at the lower right, and Potter Cottage to the left of Van Deusen. (Courtesy Western Michigan University Archives & Regional History Collections)
The earliest of the major structures to be torn down was the 1891 chapel, which stood in the way of completing the northeast corner of the Quadrangle structure, which now surrounds the water tower. The 1965 chapel was built a little further northeast of the original location.
The view from Oakland Drive (looking west): The water tower, the 1891 chapel (with power plant behind it), and south end of the Male Department.(Scanned from "The Siggins Album," courtesy of the Local History Room of The Kalamazoo Public Library.)
Again looking west from Oakland Drive, the water tower and the 1891 chapel.
Looking west/southwest: the water tower, the 1891 chapel, and the power plant. (Scanned from "Images of America: Kalamazoo, Michigan" (Arcadia Pub., 2002))
The 1891 chapel was in the way of the completion of the quadrangle complex, as shown in this detail from a 1940 planning map. It was torn down in 1950.
The next map detail shows the relative position of the 1965 chapel. (The Female Department is directly to the right, and note that the 1916 laundry in the earlier map has been incorporated into the O.T./auditorium structure in the later map.
Below, an aerial view shows where the Quadrangle would be built, between the Female Department (top) and Male Department (bottom).
The 1965-present chapel:
Above, circa 2012. The large lawn at the top left is the site of the Male Department (1872-1975). Burns Cottage (1900-1988) stood to the right of that, where there is now a parking lot.
Below: Looking north, northwest, pre-Quadrangle. The Quadrangle was fitted in around the water tower and between the Female Department (1859-1968) (top) and Male Department (bottom). The chapel (1891-1950) chapel (center) was demolished to make room for the final section of the Quadrangle. This arrangement continued for a quarter century, until the Female Department was torn down in 1968.
The H-shaped Linda Richards Hospital survives today as the back half of Western Michigan University's Unified Clinics building
Aerial view circa 1930, including Van Deusen Hospital and the Herman Ostrander Building. The Female Department is visible to the left.
1916 Laundry
The 1916 asylum laundry building is one of the very last old
structures to remain standing in 2013. It was replaced by a new laundry (1948-2005),
nearby but further west. However, the 1916 laundry was not torn down; it was
expanded into a larger building (sandwiched between two newer sections),
becoming “The Auditorium and Occupational Therapy Building.” Today, it houses
Western Michigan University’s surplus store and ROTC program.
1948 Laundry (demolished 2005)
