About the Grand Traverse Commons

What is the Grand Traverse Commons?

 The Grand Traverse Commons is an area of land on which the Northern Michigan Asylum was built between 1883-1885; opening then as the third asylum in Michigan.  The land purchased in 1881 encompassed about 400 acres consisting of mostly forest land. It expanded over decades to over 700 acres.  In the two years that it took to build the main hospital (later called the Traverse City State Hospital) and the many years since, this location has played an important role in the development of Traverse City. The presence of the hospital influenced what was a small city in northern Michigan at the turn of the twentieth century by developing local industries, employing hundreds of workers, and admitting new “patient-residents,” thereby expanding the city’s population. 

The main hospital building, known as Building 50, was built as a Kirkbride Plan structure. The Kirkbride Plan, adopted with architectural variations by asylums across the country, set out more than a blueprint for buildings. The Plan also outlined a philosophy of patient care, including activities for patients, stressing the value of nature and outdoor experiences for patients. The emphasis was on healthy environments of fresh air and extensive grounds with natural light where patients could be active in their treatments. Building 50, a beautiful Victorian-Italianate style hospital sitting in parklike acreage, embodied this philosophy and the driving philosophy of its first superintendent, James Decker Munson that “Beauty is Therapy.” In the years following the main hospital’s opening, multiple subsidiary cottages for housing patients were also built.

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The State Hospital formally closed in 1989. A massive community undertaking that began in 1991, successfully halted the destruction of the remaining wings of the Kirkbride structure (Building 50) and many other surrounding buildings.   From the 1990’s on, community engagement has sought reuses for the acres of woodlands, multiple structures and spaces that once formed the campus of the State Hospital. A contract among the Minervini Group, Traverse City, and Garfield Townships began a redevelopment of the Hospital’s buildings for residences and business. The working farmstead, an integral part of the State Hospital, is now the site of The Botanic Gardens, the Historic Barns Park and Community Garden under the aegis of Garfield Township Parks and Recreation and the nonprofit Botanic Gardens.  

The revival of buildings, the arboretum, former farmland and wooded trails that comprise the Historic Commons provide opportunities for individuals and groups to study the history and to identify the economic, cultural, educational, and scientific values of this site to the greater Traverse City region. Friends of the Historic Commons, a qualified 501(c)3, aims to build collaborations among community and commons’ residents and business owners on projects of mutual interest and together promote the value of our Historic Commons.


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