WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.419 Okay, so I want you to picture a building in 00:00:03.419 --> 00:00:06.339 your mind, but I don't want you to picture, you 00:00:06.339 --> 00:00:09.580 know, a sleek skyscraper or a cozy little cottage. 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:13.339 I want you to imagine a massive hulking structure. 00:00:13.699 --> 00:00:17.460 Oh, yeah. Made entirely of raw concrete and glass. 00:00:18.219 --> 00:00:21.859 It is snark. It's very mid -century modern. It 00:00:21.859 --> 00:00:24.320 has that look. Right. It's that heavy, imposing 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:27.219 look that architects in the 1960s just absolutely 00:00:27.219 --> 00:00:29.320 loved. But I feel like everyone else found it 00:00:29.320 --> 00:00:31.359 just a little bit unsettling. Yeah, it's a very 00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:33.539 specific vibe, isn't it? It's that architecture 00:00:33.539 --> 00:00:37.359 that basically screams authority, but then whispered 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:39.880 right underneath that is the phrase, secrets 00:00:39.880 --> 00:00:43.079 are kept here. Exactly. Yes. Now, if you are 00:00:43.079 --> 00:00:46.380 a fan of 80s nostalgia or maybe just sci -fi 00:00:46.380 --> 00:00:49.479 horror in general, you probably know this exact 00:00:49.479 --> 00:00:51.899 building intimately. You definitely do. You might 00:00:51.899 --> 00:00:53.539 even feel a little chill running down your spine 00:00:53.539 --> 00:00:55.479 just thinking about it, even if you have literally 00:00:55.479 --> 00:00:57.240 never set foot in the state of Georgia. Right. 00:00:57.439 --> 00:00:59.340 Because for millions of people watching Netflix, 00:00:59.479 --> 00:01:01.460 this isn't just an old building. This is the 00:01:01.460 --> 00:01:03.500 Hawkins National Laboratory. The one and only. 00:01:03.579 --> 00:01:05.459 This is where Eleven was kept. Yeah. This is 00:01:05.459 --> 00:01:07.459 where the Upside Down was breached in Stranger 00:01:07.459 --> 00:01:10.640 Things. It really is iconic. But, and I guess 00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:13.109 this is... why we are here today, it is not actually 00:01:13.109 --> 00:01:16.010 in Hawkins, Indiana. No. And it definitely wasn't 00:01:16.010 --> 00:01:17.790 built to house secret government experiments 00:01:17.790 --> 00:01:21.030 or interdimensional monsters. Right, right. So 00:01:21.030 --> 00:01:23.370 today we are doing a deep dive into the real 00:01:23.370 --> 00:01:26.750 world location behind that famous facade, the 00:01:26.750 --> 00:01:29.689 Georgia Mental Health Institute. And let me tell 00:01:29.689 --> 00:01:32.769 you, the reality of this place is just a weird 00:01:32.769 --> 00:01:35.909 mix of Gilded Age wealth, some really ambitious 00:01:35.909 --> 00:01:39.230 medical history, and honestly, some serious real 00:01:39.230 --> 00:01:41.319 estate maneuvering. It's fascinating. It really 00:01:41.319 --> 00:01:43.840 is a perfect case study in the life cycle of 00:01:43.840 --> 00:01:46.180 a single piece of infrastructure. We're going 00:01:46.180 --> 00:01:48.780 to track this one specific plot of land from 00:01:48.780 --> 00:01:51.840 being the home of a Coca -Cola heir to a state 00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:54.459 -run psychiatric facility to a Hollywood set, 00:01:54.599 --> 00:01:57.439 and finally to its current state, which is facing 00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:00.340 imminent demolition. It's a wild ride. And just 00:02:00.340 --> 00:02:02.780 to set the table, we've pulled facts directly 00:02:02.780 --> 00:02:05.200 from the historical records and the main Wikipedia 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:08.000 entry regarding the GMHI. Just to keep us grounded. 00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:11.879 Exactly. Separate the TV fiction from the actual 00:02:11.879 --> 00:02:14.259 Atlanta reality. So let's start at the beginning, 00:02:14.379 --> 00:02:16.680 or I guess before the beginning. Yeah, the prehistory 00:02:16.680 --> 00:02:18.199 of the site. Because before it was this creepy 00:02:18.199 --> 00:02:22.060 hospital, this land was actually really fancy. 00:02:22.280 --> 00:02:25.090 Oh, extremely fancy, yeah. To understand the 00:02:25.090 --> 00:02:27.389 Institute, you first have to understand the ground 00:02:27.389 --> 00:02:30.949 it sits on. Right. We are in Druid Hills, Atlanta, 00:02:31.370 --> 00:02:35.069 which is a very historic, very affluent neighborhood. 00:02:35.330 --> 00:02:37.729 And specifically, we are talking about the grounds 00:02:37.729 --> 00:02:40.729 of the Briarcliff Estate. And when you say estate, 00:02:40.889 --> 00:02:44.150 I mean you're talking old money. Big money. Yeah, 00:02:44.229 --> 00:02:46.349 the land wasn't originally a hospital at all. 00:02:46.430 --> 00:02:49.469 It was the private residence of Asa G. Candler 00:02:49.469 --> 00:02:52.460 Jr. Okay, Candler. That name rings a bell. Are 00:02:52.460 --> 00:02:54.379 we talking about the Coca -Cola candlers? The 00:02:54.379 --> 00:02:56.340 very same. His father was the one who founded 00:02:56.340 --> 00:02:58.780 the Coca -Cola company. Wow. So Asa Jr., who 00:02:58.780 --> 00:03:02.340 was often called Buddy, he builds this massive, 00:03:02.439 --> 00:03:05.139 sprawling estate. And what's really fascinating 00:03:05.139 --> 00:03:07.379 is that the Mental Health Institute, the concrete 00:03:07.379 --> 00:03:09.879 building we all know from TV, was eventually 00:03:09.879 --> 00:03:12.099 built right there on the grounds of his estate. 00:03:12.340 --> 00:03:15.520 That is such a strange juxtaposition to me. It 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:18.159 is. You've got the soda empire fortune, all that 00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:21.139 glitz, and then decades later, it becomes a state 00:03:21.139 --> 00:03:23.310 mental health failure. And the mansion itself, 00:03:23.590 --> 00:03:25.930 the actual Briarcliff house, is still there. 00:03:26.129 --> 00:03:28.050 Really? Yeah, it sits right next door to the 00:03:28.050 --> 00:03:30.990 hospital building. Oh, wow. That proximity actually 00:03:30.990 --> 00:03:33.310 becomes super important later when we talk about 00:03:33.310 --> 00:03:35.729 film locations because a lot of productions end 00:03:35.729 --> 00:03:38.169 up using both. But originally this was just a 00:03:38.169 --> 00:03:40.530 wealthy family's home and their garden. Well, 00:03:40.550 --> 00:03:42.789 I read somewhere that this wasn't just your standard 00:03:42.789 --> 00:03:45.449 mansion with like a nice lawn and some hedges. 00:03:45.710 --> 00:03:48.610 Didn't he have a zoo? He did. Yeah, this is that 00:03:48.610 --> 00:03:51.830 classic eccentric part of the Gilded Age. Candler 00:03:51.830 --> 00:03:55.110 Jr. had a private zoo on the grounds. A zoo? 00:03:55.430 --> 00:03:59.210 We're talking elephants. Four lions. You're kidding. 00:03:59.610 --> 00:04:03.530 A leopard. Baboons. Oh my gosh. He even had a 00:04:03.530 --> 00:04:05.629 huge swimming pool that was open to the public 00:04:05.629 --> 00:04:08.889 for a fee. Wait, elephants? Just in a residential 00:04:08.889 --> 00:04:10.990 neighborhood in Atlanta? I mean, different time. 00:04:11.129 --> 00:04:13.430 I guess so. But it paints a picture, doesn't 00:04:13.430 --> 00:04:15.909 it? It was a spectacle. It was a place of high 00:04:15.909 --> 00:04:19.709 society and strange curiosities. But, you know, 00:04:19.750 --> 00:04:22.769 eventually... The Candler era ends. Right, nothing 00:04:22.769 --> 00:04:26.009 lasts forever. The family sells the estate, and 00:04:26.009 --> 00:04:28.910 eventually the state of Georgia acquires the 00:04:28.910 --> 00:04:31.709 land. Okay, so we fast forward a bit. The state 00:04:31.709 --> 00:04:35.209 steps in. When does the actual Hawkins Lab building 00:04:35.209 --> 00:04:38.600 show up? Because looking at the photos, that 00:04:38.600 --> 00:04:41.699 concrete block is definitely not from the 1920s. 00:04:41.699 --> 00:04:44.120 No, no. The Georgia Mental Health Institute, 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:48.000 or the GMHI, officially opened its doors in 1965. 00:04:48.300 --> 00:04:50.519 Okay. And we really need to talk about the look 00:04:50.519 --> 00:04:52.300 of it because that's what made it so famous later 00:04:52.300 --> 00:04:55.120 on. Right. This was built at the absolute peak 00:04:55.120 --> 00:04:58.060 of an architectural style called brutalism. Right. 00:04:58.120 --> 00:05:00.060 I've heard that term thrown around a lot, usually 00:05:00.060 --> 00:05:02.620 as an insult. Like, oh, that building is brutal. 00:05:02.899 --> 00:05:04.839 Yeah, people think it means cruel or harsh, but 00:05:04.839 --> 00:05:07.120 it's actually technical. term. It's derived from 00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:09.939 the French phrase, baton brut. Which means? It 00:05:09.939 --> 00:05:12.720 just means raw concrete. Oh, interesting. It 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:14.339 wasn't meant to be brutal at all. It was meant 00:05:14.339 --> 00:05:17.339 to be honest. The whole philosophy was, show 00:05:17.339 --> 00:05:20.399 the materials. Don't hide the structure behind 00:05:20.399 --> 00:05:23.079 plaster or paint. It was supposed to project 00:05:23.079 --> 00:05:26.439 strength, permanence, and stability. Which I 00:05:26.439 --> 00:05:28.680 suppose makes total sense for a government institution. 00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:30.439 You want it to look like it's going to last a 00:05:30.439 --> 00:05:32.560 thousand years. Exactly. But you have to admit 00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:34.680 there's a psychological effect there, too. Oh, 00:05:34.680 --> 00:05:37.439 for sure. These buildings can feel very fortress 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:41.199 -like. Impenetrable. Which works great if you're 00:05:41.199 --> 00:05:43.660 building a secure facility, but maybe slightly 00:05:43.660 --> 00:05:46.500 less so for a place of healing. Yeah, because 00:05:46.500 --> 00:05:49.779 structurally, it's a fortress. But functionally, 00:05:49.779 --> 00:05:52.420 what was actually happening inside was at an 00:05:52.420 --> 00:05:54.899 asylum. Because when I hear mental health institute, 00:05:55.389 --> 00:05:58.689 In the context of the 1960s, my mind naturally 00:05:58.689 --> 00:06:01.269 goes to some pretty dark places. Sure, and that's 00:06:01.269 --> 00:06:03.610 a common misconception. But it was actually much 00:06:03.610 --> 00:06:05.930 more sophisticated than those old school asylums. 00:06:06.029 --> 00:06:08.290 It was a joint development between Emory University 00:06:08.290 --> 00:06:11.430 and the state of Georgia. Ah, okay. That's a 00:06:11.430 --> 00:06:13.389 critical distinction. Very much so. It wasn't 00:06:13.389 --> 00:06:15.750 just a warehouse for the mentally ill. It was 00:06:15.750 --> 00:06:19.670 primarily a teaching hospital. And Emory is a 00:06:19.670 --> 00:06:22.620 massive, massive name in medicine. Precisely. 00:06:22.819 --> 00:06:25.339 And that partnership really defined how the whole 00:06:25.339 --> 00:06:28.120 place operated. Emory doctors were the ones providing 00:06:28.120 --> 00:06:30.560 a lot of the mental health services. OK. You 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:33.839 had residents and fellows, you know, doctors 00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:36.540 in training doing their psychiatry rotations 00:06:36.540 --> 00:06:39.560 right there in the building. So unlike the show 00:06:39.560 --> 00:06:41.079 where it's just secret government experiments 00:06:41.079 --> 00:06:43.740 in the basement, this was actually a place of 00:06:43.740 --> 00:06:46.220 education and learning. It was. In fact, Emory 00:06:46.220 --> 00:06:50.250 even based its pediatric. psychiatric outpatient 00:06:50.250 --> 00:06:53.110 programs there. Pediatric? So kids? Kids, yeah. 00:06:53.209 --> 00:06:55.050 So you had families coming in and out every day, 00:06:55.089 --> 00:06:56.629 getting care for their children. It was very 00:06:56.629 --> 00:06:59.430 much a functional, public -facing institution. 00:06:59.949 --> 00:07:02.389 I do have to ask, though, because the vibe of 00:07:02.389 --> 00:07:04.230 the building is just so clinical and so intense, 00:07:04.389 --> 00:07:07.250 was there any actual research going on? Or is 00:07:07.250 --> 00:07:09.449 the lab part just a complete movie invention? 00:07:09.889 --> 00:07:12.050 No, there was real research happening. But again, 00:07:12.129 --> 00:07:14.149 think more along the lines of academic rigor, 00:07:14.250 --> 00:07:16.509 not... you know, psychic children moving things 00:07:16.509 --> 00:07:18.829 with their minds. Right, right. Less telekinesis, 00:07:18.829 --> 00:07:21.730 more clipboards. Exactly. At one point, they 00:07:21.730 --> 00:07:24.709 had 10 faculty scientists conducting about 18 00:07:24.709 --> 00:07:27.769 specific research studies. What were they actually 00:07:27.769 --> 00:07:30.329 studying? Well, they were focused on mental health 00:07:30.329 --> 00:07:33.589 naturally, but also the brain itself and central 00:07:33.589 --> 00:07:35.860 nervous system diseases. Okay, wait. Central 00:07:35.860 --> 00:07:38.319 nervous system diseases and brain research. Yeah. 00:07:38.459 --> 00:07:40.699 I can totally see how a screenwriter looks at 00:07:40.699 --> 00:07:42.800 that resume and goes, oh yeah, we can twist this 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:45.019 into something spooky. Oh, absolutely. It's really 00:07:45.019 --> 00:07:48.519 not a huge leap for fiction. If you have a facility 00:07:48.519 --> 00:07:51.459 studying the brain and it's housed inside a giant 00:07:51.459 --> 00:07:54.259 concrete bunker, the story practically writes 00:07:54.259 --> 00:07:56.779 itself. It really does. But in reality, this 00:07:56.779 --> 00:07:59.819 was just a massive legitimate operation. At the 00:07:59.819 --> 00:08:04.180 time it closed, the facility had 141 beds. Wow. 00:08:05.490 --> 00:08:08.470 That is not small. And it had an operating budget 00:08:08.470 --> 00:08:12.910 of $24 .5 million. $24 .5 million. That is a 00:08:12.910 --> 00:08:14.910 lot of money flowing through one building. A 00:08:14.910 --> 00:08:17.670 huge amount. So if it was that big and it was 00:08:17.670 --> 00:08:20.310 backed by both the state and a major university 00:08:20.310 --> 00:08:23.829 like Emory, why did it stop? Did something go 00:08:23.829 --> 00:08:26.889 wrong? Was there a scandal? Nothing that dramatic, 00:08:26.990 --> 00:08:28.930 unfortunately. It wasn't a scandal. It was just 00:08:28.930 --> 00:08:31.470 economics paired with a major shift in medical 00:08:31.470 --> 00:08:33.710 philosophy. This is where we have to talk about 00:08:33.710 --> 00:08:36.730 deinstitutionalization. Deinstitutionalization. 00:08:36.830 --> 00:08:38.789 Okay, let's unpack that because it sounds like 00:08:38.789 --> 00:08:42.269 a textbook buzzword, but I know it had huge real 00:08:42.269 --> 00:08:45.610 -world consequences. It really did. For a very 00:08:45.610 --> 00:08:48.210 long time, the standard model for treating severe 00:08:48.210 --> 00:08:51.649 mental illness was to put people in large centralized 00:08:51.649 --> 00:08:55.049 hospitals. Like the GMHI. Exactly, giant institutions. 00:08:55.470 --> 00:08:58.169 But starting in the 60s and then really accelerating 00:08:58.169 --> 00:09:00.289 through the 80s and 90s, the thinking in the 00:09:00.289 --> 00:09:03.159 medical community changed. the new model became 00:09:03.159 --> 00:09:06.860 community -based care. So actively moving away 00:09:06.860 --> 00:09:09.279 from the whole fortress on the hill model. That's 00:09:09.279 --> 00:09:11.679 it. The idea was that patients generally do much 00:09:11.679 --> 00:09:13.539 better if they are treated in their own communities. 00:09:13.659 --> 00:09:15.519 Makes sense. You know, in smaller group homes 00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:18.159 or via outpatient clinics, rather than being 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:21.600 completely isolated from society. So by the late 00:09:21.600 --> 00:09:23.740 90s, the Georgia Department of Human Resources 00:09:23.740 --> 00:09:26.299 took a really hard look at their books. Because 00:09:26.299 --> 00:09:30.360 they were spending $24 .5 million to run this 00:09:30.360 --> 00:09:33.700 one single facility. Right. And they proposed 00:09:33.700 --> 00:09:37.139 closing it. The strategy was to move the remaining 00:09:37.139 --> 00:09:40.980 patients to other nearby hospitals and then redirect 00:09:40.980 --> 00:09:45.389 that massive $24 .5 million budget. directly 00:09:45.389 --> 00:09:47.970 into community mental health services. Which, 00:09:48.049 --> 00:09:49.909 I mean, in theory sounds like a much more efficient 00:09:49.909 --> 00:09:52.110 use of funds. You spread the care out where it's 00:09:52.110 --> 00:09:54.090 needed rather than keeping it locked up in this 00:09:54.090 --> 00:09:56.830 one giant expensive location. That was the logic 00:09:56.830 --> 00:09:59.470 driving the decision. So ultimately in 1997, 00:09:59.870 --> 00:10:02.389 the Georgia Mental Health Institute officially 00:10:02.389 --> 00:10:04.610 closed its doors. And this is where the real 00:10:04.610 --> 00:10:06.070 estate maneuvering comes in, right? Oh, yeah. 00:10:06.230 --> 00:10:10.389 Because 42 acres in Druid Hills. That is prime, 00:10:10.549 --> 00:10:13.190 prime land. It's incredibly valuable real estate. 00:10:13.250 --> 00:10:15.429 It's near downtown Atlanta. It's near Emory's 00:10:15.429 --> 00:10:17.870 main campus. And this is exactly where Emory 00:10:17.870 --> 00:10:20.070 University comes back into the picture. Okay. 00:10:20.129 --> 00:10:23.370 After the state closed the facility in 97, Emory 00:10:23.370 --> 00:10:26.490 stepped up and bought the entire campus. I am 00:10:26.490 --> 00:10:28.190 almost afraid to ask how much they paid for it. 00:10:28.289 --> 00:10:32.049 You should be. They paid $2 .9 million. Wait, 00:10:32.169 --> 00:10:35.549 2 .9? No, 2 .9 million. For 42 acres in Atlanta, 00:10:35.769 --> 00:10:38.299 that's basically theft. It's a steal. It was 00:10:38.299 --> 00:10:41.879 an incredible deal. $2 .9 million for the land 00:10:41.879 --> 00:10:46.080 and all 17 buildings on the campus. Wow. I mean, 00:10:46.100 --> 00:10:48.039 I know real estate was cheaper in the 90s, but 00:10:48.039 --> 00:10:50.320 that feels like they bought it for parts. To 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:52.240 be fair to them, they were also buying a massive 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:54.860 liability. That's true. These old institutional 00:10:54.860 --> 00:10:58.179 buildings, especially concrete ones, are incredibly 00:10:58.179 --> 00:11:02.000 expensive to maintain or retrofit. But yes, even 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:04.100 with that, the price tag was shockingly low. 00:11:04.259 --> 00:11:06.220 Okay, so Emory gets the deal of the century. 00:11:06.659 --> 00:11:09.700 What was the plan? Did they want to turn it into 00:11:09.700 --> 00:11:12.460 dorms? A massive library? They have really big 00:11:12.460 --> 00:11:14.679 dreams. They pitched something called the EmTech 00:11:14.679 --> 00:11:17.980 Biosciences Center. Fancy. The goal was to turn 00:11:17.980 --> 00:11:20.879 the entire property into this cutting -edge biotechnology 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:23.639 research and business development hub. That sounds 00:11:23.639 --> 00:11:26.460 very futuristic. It does. Unofficially, everyone 00:11:26.460 --> 00:11:29.320 just started calling the campus Emory West. Emory 00:11:29.320 --> 00:11:31.840 West, okay. They were looking at either renovating 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:34.000 those 17 existing buildings or just knocking 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:36.000 them all down and building brand new ones. They 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:38.179 really wanted to expand the university's... footprint 00:11:38.179 --> 00:11:39.940 significantly. I'm guessing that didn't happen. 00:11:40.039 --> 00:11:42.700 Because if it had, we wouldn't have had Stranger 00:11:42.700 --> 00:11:44.480 Things filming there in an abandoned building 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:47.860 decades later. UKIP did the dots perfectly. The 00:11:47.860 --> 00:11:50.899 plan hit a major snag. And it was pretty simple. 00:11:51.320 --> 00:11:54.659 The faculty didn't want to move. Really? A multi 00:11:54.659 --> 00:11:58.039 -million dollar biotech hub project died because 00:11:58.039 --> 00:12:00.779 of office politics. It often does. The researchers 00:12:00.779 --> 00:12:03.200 expressed a very strong desire to stay on the 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:05.559 main campus. Wow. They just didn't want to be 00:12:05.559 --> 00:12:08.879 isolated over at Emory West, away from the main 00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:11.440 hustle and bustle of the university life. So 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:14.200 because of that pushback, the plans for this 00:12:14.200 --> 00:12:16.940 grand redevelopment completely stalled. So they 00:12:16.940 --> 00:12:19.120 just kept the land. They kept the land. Obviously, 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:21.620 it was too valuable. Yeah. But the buildings 00:12:21.620 --> 00:12:24.720 just sat there. And that stalling, that basically 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:27.019 created the perfect conditions for its next life. 00:12:27.080 --> 00:12:29.519 Yes. Absolute limbo. The building sits there. 00:12:29.580 --> 00:12:32.519 It's empty. It's creepy. It's got that incredibly 00:12:32.519 --> 00:12:35.840 specific architectural look. And then Hollywood 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:38.679 comes knocking. Enter the location scouts. You 00:12:38.679 --> 00:12:40.379 have to remember, around this time, Georgia is 00:12:40.379 --> 00:12:42.139 starting to offer very aggressive tax incentives 00:12:42.139 --> 00:12:44.679 for filming. Right. The Georgia Peach logo at 00:12:44.679 --> 00:12:47.480 the end of every credit roll. Exactly. So suddenly 00:12:47.480 --> 00:12:49.860 all these massive productions are flooding into 00:12:49.860 --> 00:12:52.340 Atlanta and they desperately need locations. 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:56.840 And here sits a massive, empty, incredibly atmospheric 00:12:56.840 --> 00:12:59.659 government facility. It was a goldmine for them. 00:12:59.759 --> 00:13:02.200 And it is kind of hilarious that this place, 00:13:02.279 --> 00:13:04.519 which was originally built for healing and pediatric 00:13:04.519 --> 00:13:08.259 research, is now globally famous as a place of 00:13:08.259 --> 00:13:18.250 absolute terror. pediatric psychiatric facility. 00:13:18.509 --> 00:13:22.769 Yeah. A place of care became the global visual 00:13:22.769 --> 00:13:26.110 shorthand for government conspiracy and supernatural 00:13:26.110 --> 00:13:28.830 danger. And it creates this weird loop where 00:13:28.830 --> 00:13:31.210 the fiction kind of overtakes the reality. Oh, 00:13:31.250 --> 00:13:32.950 totally. Most people will never know about the 00:13:32.950 --> 00:13:35.090 pediatric care or the community funding issues. 00:13:35.149 --> 00:13:37.250 They just point at the screen and go, hey, that's 00:13:37.250 --> 00:13:39.490 where the Demogorgon is. And it's not just Stranger 00:13:39.490 --> 00:13:41.580 Things, right? Yeah. Because once I started looking 00:13:41.580 --> 00:13:43.759 into this for our deep dive, I realized I've 00:13:43.759 --> 00:13:45.679 seen this building everywhere. Oh, it's everywhere. 00:13:45.980 --> 00:13:47.799 It's like the Wilhelm scream of buildings. Once 00:13:47.799 --> 00:13:49.480 you recognize it, you just see it in everything. 00:13:49.740 --> 00:13:52.940 It really became a go -to spot for Georgia productions. 00:13:53.139 --> 00:13:56.419 If a script says creepy institution, you just 00:13:56.419 --> 00:13:58.919 go book the GMHI. Let's run down the list of 00:13:58.919 --> 00:14:00.899 what film there, because it is surprisingly long. 00:14:00.980 --> 00:14:03.700 What else was shot there? Well, sticking with 00:14:03.700 --> 00:14:07.840 the horror theme, the 2017 movie rings from the 00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:10.580 Ring franchise. Right. That film there. Naturally. 00:14:10.620 --> 00:14:12.639 If you need a spooky hospital where bad things 00:14:12.639 --> 00:14:14.879 happen, that's your spot. Then you have something 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:17.539 more recent and gritty. Alex Garland's film, 00:14:17.720 --> 00:14:20.539 Civil War. oh really i actually didn't catch 00:14:20.539 --> 00:14:23.559 that that movie had such a specific dystopian 00:14:23.559 --> 00:14:27.139 look to it yes there is a major scene featuring 00:14:27.139 --> 00:14:30.179 a fight between militia men and loyalists that 00:14:30.179 --> 00:14:32.679 entire shootout happens at the institute oh wow 00:14:32.679 --> 00:14:35.639 the concrete pillars and the layout just make 00:14:35.639 --> 00:14:38.200 for a very intense tactical environment that 00:14:38.200 --> 00:14:40.759 fits the brutalist architecture perfectly it 00:14:40.759 --> 00:14:43.009 feels exactly like a bunker Then there's a sci 00:14:43.009 --> 00:14:46.230 -fi film called Elevation from 2024. They used 00:14:46.230 --> 00:14:48.830 it for an exterior shot of a hospital. Just a 00:14:48.830 --> 00:14:50.990 quick establishing shot, but there it is again. 00:14:51.190 --> 00:14:53.950 It really is getting typecast. It's either creepy 00:14:53.950 --> 00:14:57.450 hospital or... Regular hospital where things 00:14:57.450 --> 00:14:59.230 are about to go terribly wrong. Pretty much. 00:14:59.250 --> 00:15:02.570 And then you have the TV shows, the Vampire Diaries 00:15:02.570 --> 00:15:06.590 filmed there. Nice. And DC's Doom Patrol. Now, 00:15:06.649 --> 00:15:08.230 Doom Patrol, that's interesting because they 00:15:08.230 --> 00:15:10.490 use the mansion, right? Not just the hospital. 00:15:10.669 --> 00:15:12.629 Exactly. Remember we mentioned the Briarcliff 00:15:12.629 --> 00:15:14.269 Mansion is right next to it. Yeah, the one with 00:15:14.269 --> 00:15:16.870 the zoo. Right. Doom Patrol uses the Briarcliff 00:15:16.870 --> 00:15:19.850 as a key location. They show the facade all the 00:15:19.850 --> 00:15:21.929 time and shot scenes right in front of it. That 00:15:21.929 --> 00:15:25.320 is so convenient. It is. So you have these productions 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:29.200 using the 1920s mansion and the 1960s hospital, 00:15:29.500 --> 00:15:32.639 sometimes simultaneously on the same plot of 00:15:32.639 --> 00:15:35.139 land. It's basically a backlot that wasn't actually 00:15:35.139 --> 00:15:37.539 built to be a backlot. You can film a period 00:15:37.539 --> 00:15:39.840 piece and a sci -fi thriller without ever moving 00:15:39.840 --> 00:15:42.850 the catering trucks. There is even an indie movie 00:15:42.850 --> 00:15:46.250 called Background Action by Evan Skolnick. It's 00:15:46.250 --> 00:15:48.450 a comedy about a production assistant working 00:15:48.450 --> 00:15:52.070 on a superhero movie. The GMHI building was the 00:15:52.070 --> 00:15:54.649 sole filming location for the entire movie. They 00:15:54.649 --> 00:15:56.809 shot the whole thing there. That is fantastic. 00:15:57.330 --> 00:16:00.870 The building has honestly had a more active acting 00:16:00.870 --> 00:16:03.289 career in its retirement than when it was actually 00:16:03.289 --> 00:16:05.610 open for business. It's true. For about a decade 00:16:05.610 --> 00:16:07.750 or so, it was essentially a dedicated soundstage 00:16:07.750 --> 00:16:11.529 for institutional creepy. filled a niche. But 00:16:11.529 --> 00:16:15.070 as we know in real estate nothing stays in limbo 00:16:15.070 --> 00:16:18.350 forever. Never. Especially not 42 acres owned 00:16:18.350 --> 00:16:21.009 by a university in a booming city. No. The clock 00:16:21.009 --> 00:16:23.370 eventually runs out and for the Georgia Mental 00:16:23.370 --> 00:16:25.889 Health Institute that clock ran out in 2022. 00:16:26.429 --> 00:16:28.730 So what's the final verdict? The limbo is over. 00:16:29.230 --> 00:16:31.990 Emory University finally made a move. In 2022, 00:16:32.289 --> 00:16:35.250 they leased the property for 99 years to a private 00:16:35.250 --> 00:16:37.789 developer called Gallery Living. Gallery Living. 00:16:37.889 --> 00:16:40.350 That sounds decidedly not like a biotech lab. 00:16:40.549 --> 00:16:42.570 No, not at all. They're building a senior living 00:16:42.570 --> 00:16:45.009 community. A senior living community. So we are 00:16:45.009 --> 00:16:48.250 going from a psychiatric hospital for kids to 00:16:48.250 --> 00:16:51.649 a fake government monster lab to retirement homes. 00:16:51.830 --> 00:16:54.509 It's a massive pivot. But here is the consequence 00:16:54.509 --> 00:16:56.950 of that deal. Because they are building this 00:16:56.950 --> 00:16:59.690 sprawling new community, the developer plans 00:16:59.690 --> 00:17:02.850 to clear the slate, meaning demolition. All the 00:17:02.850 --> 00:17:05.329 former hospital buildings on the campus are slated 00:17:05.329 --> 00:17:09.009 to be torn down. Wow. So Hawkins Lab is literally 00:17:09.009 --> 00:17:11.470 going to be rubble. It will cease to exist in 00:17:11.470 --> 00:17:14.029 the physical world. The tunnels, the lobby, that 00:17:14.029 --> 00:17:17.150 distinctive front entrance, it's all going. That 00:17:17.150 --> 00:17:19.009 is actually kind of sad. I mean, I know it's 00:17:19.009 --> 00:17:21.809 just concrete and glass and it's been closed 00:17:21.809 --> 00:17:25.799 as a hospital for almost 30 years. It really 00:17:25.799 --> 00:17:28.880 feels like we are losing a legitimate pop culture. 00:17:29.840 --> 00:17:32.599 It is a landmark. But if you zoom out a bit, 00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:35.559 this is exactly what happens to these massive 00:17:35.559 --> 00:17:38.180 single purpose facilities. They are built for 00:17:38.180 --> 00:17:41.680 a very specific societal need, in this case, 00:17:41.700 --> 00:17:44.759 mid -century mental health care. And when that 00:17:44.759 --> 00:17:47.180 model of care changes, the building just becomes 00:17:47.180 --> 00:17:49.119 obsolete. It's like an architectural dinosaur. 00:17:49.299 --> 00:17:51.339 It couldn't adapt. Exactly. It sat there for 00:17:51.339 --> 00:17:53.299 decades because it was too expensive to fix up 00:17:53.299 --> 00:17:55.980 and too expensive to tear down. It existed in 00:17:55.980 --> 00:17:58.779 that weird gap between usefulness and land value. 00:17:59.019 --> 00:18:01.319 Right. But eventually the sheer value of the 00:18:01.319 --> 00:18:03.880 land outweighed the demolition costs. It's the 00:18:03.880 --> 00:18:06.519 circle of life, but for concrete. Precisely. 00:18:06.579 --> 00:18:10.279 It's the life cycle of infrastructure. From a 00:18:10.279 --> 00:18:13.180 Coke Air's private garden to a state institution 00:18:13.180 --> 00:18:17.460 to a bargain bin university purchase to a global 00:18:17.460 --> 00:18:21.460 television icon. And soon it'll be a quiet place 00:18:21.460 --> 00:18:24.140 for seniors to enjoy their golden years. You 00:18:24.140 --> 00:18:26.380 know, it really makes you think. When we watch 00:18:26.380 --> 00:18:29.079 Stranger Things in five or ten years, or rewatch 00:18:29.079 --> 00:18:31.359 Civil War, we are basically going to be looking 00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:33.579 at a ghost. We will be. The physical space will 00:18:33.579 --> 00:18:35.740 be totally gone. It raises a really interesting 00:18:35.740 --> 00:18:37.940 question for you listening right now. How much 00:18:37.940 --> 00:18:39.880 of our architectural history is currently being 00:18:39.880 --> 00:18:42.240 preserved only on film? That's a great point. 00:18:42.660 --> 00:18:45.480 We tend to think of buildings as permanent, standing 00:18:45.480 --> 00:18:48.940 forever. But in the digital age, the actual bricks 00:18:48.940 --> 00:18:51.940 and mortar might be long gone, while the MP4 00:18:51.940 --> 00:18:54.779 file lives on perfectly. That's a haunting thought. 00:18:55.240 --> 00:18:57.500 We are inadvertently creating a digital museum 00:18:57.500 --> 00:19:00.619 of lost places every single time we film a movie. 00:19:00.740 --> 00:19:03.240 The real Hawkins Lab might be slated for demolition, 00:19:03.240 --> 00:19:06.700 but the upside down is forever, I guess. Thanks 00:19:06.700 --> 00:19:08.700 for taking this deep dive with us into the strange 00:19:08.700 --> 00:19:11.039 winding history of the Georgia Mental Health 00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:13.119 Institute. It was a real pleasure. We'll catch 00:19:13.119 --> 00:19:13.680 you on the next one.