Date: Fri 25-Oct-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

FHH-auction-Le-Clair

Full Text:

Last Vestiges Of The State Hospital Are Going, Going, Gone

B Y S TEVE B IGHAM

The state's Department of Mental Health opened the doors of Fairfield Hills

Hospital last Friday and Saturday and invited bargain hunters in in a bid to

rid itself of institutional furniture and property it no longer had use for.

Through a public auction conducted by Clearing House Commercial of

Wethersfield, the state sold more than $30,000 worth of tag-sale-like items.

The auction offered a range of goods from pool tables and refrigerators to

dentist's chairs and stainless steel operating tables. Auctioneer Thomas Le

Clair said nearly all 1,300 catalogued items went were sold.

Of course, much of the inventory had already been removed since the state's

decision to close Fairfield Hills Hospital more than a year ago as part of its

plan to consolidate the Department of Mental Health.

"All state agencies had an opportunity to pick and choose what they needed

beforehand," Mr Le Clair explained. "What we had left was what the state could

not use anymore."

About 75 buyers showed up at Friday's auction, which started at 10 am in the

kitchen of the Bridgeport Dining Hall. The auctioneer started fielding bids

for pots and pans, vegetable dicers and stainless steel vats. Mr Le Clair even

managed to auction off a pair of electric fryolators (still filled with

grease) for about $10.

With the heavy rain postponing any leaf-raking chores, about 500-600 people,

many of them from Newtown, attended Saturday's auction, which featured the

sale of three pool tables (sold for $100 and under), oak dressers, tables and

hundreds of wooden chairs.

The top lot, according to Mr Le Clair, was a Hobart dough mixer which was sold

to a restaurant dealer for $2,900. Also, a pile of some 5,000 record albums

and nearly as many books went for $10.

In addition to finding bargains, the two-day event also gave the curious a

rare opportunity to see part of the massive institutional hospital from the

inside. The Bridgeport Dining Hall boasts four massive dining halls and a

kitchen/bakery about the size of a football field.

If you missed last week's auction and are still in the market for a lobotomy

table or any other mental hospital item, the next state hospital auction will

take place at the Norwich State Hospital November 1-2.