The Oregon State Hospital's "J" building, made famous in the 1975 Jack
Nicholson film, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, was opened for a
weekend tour to visitors who loved the look inside but often wondered
how the patients could have lived there.
State employees guided about 200 people through vacated, decaying
sections of the building and the sprawling tunnels under it, where
some patients had to live.
At least 600 more people have said they would like the tour but it is
not certain that the Department of Human Services will be providing
another chance.
Casey Montoya
They expressed concern about devoting more state staffing and work time.
"Right now, resource-wise, I don't know how we can possibly continue
to do tours," said Jodie Jones, a DHS official. "The demand is so
great that one more day isn't going to do it. Then where do you stop?"
Many of those who got in Saturday considered themselves lucky to get a
detailed, inside look at a Salem landmark that earned a niche in
cinematic history.
"It was a once-in-a lifetime opportunity," said Vickran Harinau, who
likes history and came from Seattle with a friend for the hour-long
tour.
"A lot of times, these kinds of tours can be very perfunctory, but
they really put their heart into making it interesting and
informative."
Visitors got a chance to ask questions to Dean Brooks, the retired
hospital superintendent who gave movie makers permission to film
"Cuckoo's Nest" inside the hospital.
Harinau said his favorite part of the tour came deep inside the J
Building, during a stop at a long-dormant shower room where organizers
displayed a hydrotherapy machine, a key prop in the movie's climactic
scene.
The Oscar-winning movie based on the novel by Oregon author Ken Kesey
starred Nicholson as a rebellious mental patient. After he is left
docile by a lobotomy, another patient, angered and empowered by his
friend's demise, hoists the heavy hydrotherapy machine over his head
and throws it through a screened window, clearing the way for his
escape.
Willamette University freshman Halley Arneson said she felt a desire
to watch the movie again. "This really brought it to life," she said.
"I really want to watch it now."
She said she was surprised to learn that about 3,800 patients were
packed into the psychiatric facility during the 1950s, compared to
about 600 today.
During the hospital's peak population, excess patients had to be
housed in the hospital's tunnel system.
For John Ritter it triggered memories. In the 1970s, he taught science
and social skills to children enrolled in a treatment program in the J
Building.
"It's been 30 years since I've been here," he said.
He recalled how many of the children ran errands for the Hollywood
crew that worked on "Cuckoo's Nest."
Casey Montoya
