Elmcrest Hospital
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| Elmcrest Hospital | |
|---|---|
| Private, Saint Francis Hospital | |
 | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Marlborough Road, Portland, Connecticut, United States |
| Coordinates | 41°34′18″N 72°38′22″W / 41.571785°N 72.639473°W |
| Organization | |
| Type | Psychiatric |
| Services | |
| Beds | 24[1] |
| History | |
| Founded | Circa 1942 |
| Closed | Circa 2006 |
| Links | |
| Lists | Hospitals in Connecticut |
Elmcrest Hospital, later St. Francis Care Behavioral Health, was a small psychiatric facility in Portland, Connecticut. Opened in 1942, the campus incorporated three historic mansions, including a childhood home of 1800s businesswoman Elizabeth Jarvis Colt.
The facility was purchased by Saint Francis Hospital in 1997, and in 1998, the hospital underwent increased scrutiny when an 11-year-old patient died while being restrained by an employee. In 2003, inpatient services at the campus were discontinued, and patients were relocated to the Saint Francis Mount Sinai campus.[1] Hartford Hospital purchased the campus in 2003 and continued operating the outpatient and partial hospitalization services for children and teens at the site[2] through its affiliate the Rushford Center. Rushford discontinued operations at the site c. 2006. A redevelopment plan that would have demolished two of the three historic homes was proposed in 2006, however the original effort had stalled by 2009.
On February 1, 2018, the Portland Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously to approve the Brainerd Place development for the site. As of 2022, the project is expected to include a mix of apartments and retail, while adaptively redeveloping the three historic homes in place.
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The following structures are contributing structures of the Marlborough Street Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
- Brainerd House and carriage house (1851) - carriage house demolished circa 2019
- Hart-Jarvis House (1829–30)
- Sage House (1884)
Redevelopment efforts
In 2006, developers proposed building condos and a shopping center anchored by a supermarket.[3][4] The plan drew criticism, as two of the three historic homes located on the campus would be demolished. The plan was active through at least 2009,[5] however, the campus remained vacant, and no demolition occurred prior to approval of the current Brainerd Place development. The only historic asset to be demolished as of 2021 was the 1851 Carriage house, which was to the far left of the main hospital site entrance.
In August 2014, the town of Portland received a $50,000 grant from the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, under its Vibrant Cities Initiative.[6] In early 2015, the town used the grant to hire a consultant to help guide development with a hopeful goal of rehabilitating the historical structures as part of an economically viable redevelopment. Community groups such as the Elmcrest Campus Advisory Committee and the Portland Historical Society have also been working to encourage redevelopment that preserves the structures.[7]