Callan Park Hospital for the Insane

Callan Park Hospital for the Insane
General view of the hospital
Geography
Location	Lilyfield, NSW, Australia
Organisation
Hospital type	Mental Hospital
History
Founded	1878
Closed	2008

The Callan Park Hospital for the Insane (1878 – 1914) was an insane asylum located in the grounds of Callan Park, an area on the shores of Iron Cove in the Sydney suburb of Lilyfield in Australia. In 1915 the facility was renamed Callan Park Mental Hospital, and again in 1976 to Callan Park Hospital. Since 1994, the facility has been formally known as Rozelle Hospital. In April 2008, all Rozelle Hospital services and patients were transferred to Concord Hospital. The Park (Special Provisions) Act, 2002 / {{{4}}} (NSW) restricts future uses to health and education, but the New South Wales Government has not revealed its intentions for the site.

In 1873 the Colonial Government of New South Wales purchased the Callan Park site, then known as "Callan Estates", with the purpose of building a large lunatic asylum to ease the severe overcrowding at the Gladesville Hospital for the Insane, at Bedlam Point, near Tarban Creek in Gladesville. The new lunatic asylum was designed according to the views of Dr Thomas Kirkbride, an American. Colonial Architect James Barnet worked with the Inspector of the Insane Dr Frederick Norton Manning to produce a group of twenty neo-classical buildings. These were completed in 1885 and named the Kirkbride Block.

The Kirkbride complex continued to be used for the housing and treatment of patients until 1994, when the last remaining services were transferred to other buildings in the Callan Park grounds, towards the Broughton Hall at the southern end of the site. Many patients were also transferred intobig building in the local community, in line with the policy of the State Government (see The Richmond Report of 1983 which accelerated the move towards de-institutionalising care), creating a number of social and moral problems.

In 2007 it was reported that the Minister for Planning, Frank Sartor MP had announced in Parliament that the University of Sydney and the Government had commenced discussions about the future use of Callan Park. The University and the Government proposed to enter into a memorandum of understanding and then a lease. In June 2008, Rozelle Hospital services and patients were transferred to Concord Hospital. In the face of strong community opposition, by October 2008 the Government rejected the University's plans to accommodate up to 6,000 students on the Callan Park site and announced that the 40 hectares (99 acres) site would be handed to Leichhardt Council.