New York holds quite a few interesting abandoned structures, but one of the largest and most interesting would have to be this massive asylum, which towers over Rochester’s streets.

Terrence Tower, like most older asylums, holds a very dark history inside its crumbling walls. Former nurses and floor staff recall numerous accounts of patient abuse from the 1960s into the 1980s. Asylums had improved slightly into these years compared to the earlier 1900s, but were ultimately still often nothing more than glorified “storage space” for people that were not wanted in the public eye. Patients were admitted, and were often treated like objects rather than actual people, as they were seen as nothing more than crazy and unfit for society, sometimes even for minimal disabilities.

Terrence Tower was built in the late 1950s, finally opening its doors in 1959. The facility housed over 1,000 beds, and patients of varying mental disabilities. People with anything from mild to extreme issues were admitted and locked away somewhere within its 16 stories. Each floor held a different department, with the 5^th floor housing the criminally insane ward, and a general hospital split between the 13^th and 14^th floors. A morgue and lab were in the basement.

During these earlier years, mental patients across the US were often times not even seen as patients, but rather undesirable humans; ones that could be quieted with inhumane treatments like electroshock therapy, lobotomies, or being heavily dosed with terrible medications so as to not “disrupt” society. Some patients had been dropped off there when they were just babies, and remained well into the 80s.

In addition to nurses and floor staff, some former patients recall others around them being severely mistreated. They remember security practically torturing some patients, and even going as far as raping others during the 1980s.

Thankfully, as years went on, certain inhumane treatments fell off one-by-one, and hospital systems became more of a resource for people with mental disabilities, rather than just “storage.” People all over have grown more accepting and open to helping, rather than simply disowning family members for such disabilities. This is one main factor, which ultimately led to abandonment of many asylums across the country, with Terrence Tower finally closing its doors in 1995. Remaining patients were moved elsewhere on the campus, and provided better treatment options as years went on.

Terrence Tower has now sat abandoned and decaying for 23 years, but as of 2019 there are plans for redevelopment – a plan that is estimated to cost upwards of $32 million. There are plans to remove asbestos from the building, demolish the structure and redevelop the 30-acre site with placement of a 110-room hotel, commercial buildings, apartment and more.