Gov. Christie announces $27M plan to clean up former Greystone Psychiatric Hospital property

MORRIS PLAINS — The once majestic Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital, with its marble pillars and ornate interior is a shadow of its former self. And the 165-acre property in Parsippany, known as Greystone Park, has become an "eyesore," according to Gov. Chris Christie.
But it is about to be cleaned up.
The governor announced today that the state will set aside $27 million to remediate and convert the area into open space, and investigate whether the main hospital building, which closed in 2008, can be properly preserved.
"Our view on this is that this facility has been, unfortunately, an eyesore in this area the way it’s been maintained and treated over time by the state — candidly, neglected by the state," Christie said at a news conference in Morris Plains. "This plan fits our goal of expanding open space to our citizens - and that’s a good thing."
The Department of Environmental Protection has set aside $950,000 to study what it will take to remediate the site.
Christie’s plan will be paid for with state open space preservation money as well as bonds taken out by the county from the state Economic Development Authority. The state will retain ownership of the site until the bonds are repaid, Christie said.
"We’re pleased that the governor recognizes that 165 acres needs to stay as open space," said Maureen Murray, communications director for Morris Plains Action for Open Space, which has long advocated for the move.
Local officials were thrilled as well at what they termed the governor’s generosity.
"The more recreation centers we can have the better," Parsippany Mayor Jamie Barberio said.
Ted Hussa, Denville’s mayor and president of Preserve Greystone, said the governor’s announcement was a "historic step," and that he believes the building can be saved.
"Up until this point, the talk had been lets find a way to knock it down," Hussa said. "There is a sense of urgency, but we are very gratified that the ball is rolling a little bit. It’s not just put the wrecking ball be put it."
Designed a few years after the Civil War by Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan, Greystone is a French Renaissance/Second Empire-style building. It is an example of the Kirkbride plan, espoused by Thomas Kirkbride, one of the most influential physicians in the care of the mentally ill in the United States in the 1800s. Kirkbride thought the mentally ill would benefit from bucolic settings and palatial residences.
The buildings around the main hospital will be converted into open space by demolishing the existing, dilapidated structures, cleaning up any contamination and then handing to the county as part of their park system, Christie said.
"When the state closes a facility, it has a responsibility to clean up after itself," he said. "We’re fulfilling our obligation to return this land to who we originally took it from in a condition at least as good as we found it back then."






Workers demolish the employees' residence building on Morris County's portion of the the Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital campus in this file photo.

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