ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The former Allentown State Hospital is gone, but it’s certainly not forgotten.
The Pennsylvania Museum and Historical Commission will recognize the hospital — which was demolished at the end of 2020 — as a significant part of the Commonwealth’s history by awarding it an Official State Historical Marker.
The designation “honors the hospital community for 100 years of service to the Lehigh Valley and contributions to worldwide mental health care and services.”Pennsylvania Museum and Historical Commission release on former Allentown State Hospital site getting a historical marker
A news release Tuesday said the designation “honors the hospital community for 100 years of service to the Lehigh Valley and contributions to worldwide mental health care and services.”
An unveiling ceremony for the marker will take place at 11 a.m. May 3, at the front entrance to where the hospital once stood at 1600 Hanover Ave.
Formerly known as the Homoeopathic State Hospital for the Insane at Allentown, it was regarded as the first homeopathic hospital for the treatment of children and adults with severe mental illness in the state.
The hospital reached its peak census of 2,107 following World War II, the release said, and its use of non-threatening methods of supporting patients in crisis remains part of the curriculum of the World Health Organization’s Quality Right Training.
It focuses on reducing and ending the use of restraint and seclusion at psychiatric and behavioral health hospitals worldwide.
Site set for massive development
Allentown State Hospital closed Dec. 17, 2010, but the 200-acre property on which it sat is closer than ever to redevelopment on the city’s East Side, near the Bethlehem border.
A $1 billion community called Northridge is planned, with residential and senior housing, a veterans’ hospital, charter school and more.
As part of the process, developer City Center is working through a “Remedial Investigation Work Plan” because of site contamination not resolved at the time of demolition.
The plan in late December was submitted to the state Department of Environmental Protection for review.
“Before we start to develop the site, we will work with Synergy Environmental and the DEP to make sure the land meets all PADEP regulatory requirements."Robert DiLorenzo, senior project manager for developer City Center
“Before we start to develop the site, we will work with Synergy Environmental and the DEP to make sure the land meets all PADEP regulatory requirements," Robert DiLorenzo, senior project manager for developer City Center, told LehighValleyNews.com in February.
The sprawling campus was once home to 44 buildings, including sheds, gazebos and Dumpsters, as well as a system of utility tunnels, water reservoirs and a wastewater treatment plant.
The use and history of the property led to present environmental conditions.
If more remediation is required, City Center would complete it, DiLorenzo said.
City Center is expected to submit its tentative plans for the property to the Allentown Planning Commission in the second quarter of this year.
Aesthetically, it's unknown how the historical marker might fit with plans for the property or the exact location it will be installed.
