Former psychiatric hospital in Marlboro transformed into recreational space
Over 400 acres of land that used to be the home of Marlboro Hospital is now open space
MARLBORO — Monmouth County will assume land management responsibilities for the grounds of the long-gone Marlboro State Psychiatric Hospital, with plans to convert its surrounding 411 acres into a park with walking trails and other forms of passive recreation.
The agreement with the state of New Jersey gives the county government the option to purchase the entire parcel in 2033, when the state government has paid off existing debt it owes on the Marlboro site that — at some point — was bundled together with other state government bonds, said Commissioner Director Thomas A. Arnone.
County and township officials gathered Friday morning for a ceremony on the grounds of the former hospital to acknowledge the land transfer.
The Marlboro State Psychiatric Hospital opened in 1931 on fenced-in farmland and provided long-term treatment for hundreds of residents living in dormitory-style cottages. A history of scandals — including abuse, neglect, suicides and escapes — and an investigation by former Gov. Richard Codey, when he was a state senator, led to its closure in 1998.
More than a decade later, eight buildings on the site were demolished when the property became inundated with ghost hunters drawn to its horror movie-like setting amid persistent urban legends that the old “asylum” was haunted by its late but still troubled patients.
An isolated graveyard of small headstones — 924 of them — which bear only numbers, is the only reminder left of the human tragedy that took place amid the bucolic backdrop.
Marlboro Mayor Jonathan Hornik said his administration rezoned the grounds after he took office in 2008 so that the land could not be developed, which reduced its appraised value from about $40 million to about $1 million. He recalled that when then-Gov. Jon Corzine found out about the financial loss to the state, “he politely threw me out of his office.”
Arnone said the county will pay nothing to acquire the land management responsibilities — except for county legal fees — and revenue to eventually buy the site will come from the county’s open space tax.
Going forward, the county will take on the fiscal responsibility for the continued maintenance and upkeep of the property, Arnone said.
“This is an extremely, extremely exciting time,” Arnone said. “It’s 411 acres. Think about this: In 1931, this hospital opened up, it included 17 large Tudor-style cottages that could house between 500 and 800 patients at any given time.”
In 1997, the Monmouth County Park System acquired a 380-acre farm across the street — on Route 520/Newman Springs Road — that was previously operated by the hospital and has since been developed into the 439-acre Big Brook Park, Arnone said.
Hornik recalled that when he was growing up in Marlboro in the 1980s, a persistent problem for the town was the inability of the hospital to keep the patients on the grounds. Hornik’s late father, Saul Hornik, was mayor of Marlboro at the time.
“The inmates were freely walking out (onto) Route 520 and walking down to what was then the A&P and Marlboro Pizza, so much so that our local police force had to go pick them up and bring them back,” Hornik said. “There was one time my father climbed the fence outside, with the news media there, to show them how easy it was to get in, putting forth the point that ‘if it’s that easy to get in, can you imagine how easy it is to get out?’”
Getting back to the ghosts, Hornik said one unique feature of this future Monmouth County park is indeed its paranormal reputation.
“Through the years, the Marlboro Police have done a good job securing this place because I don’t know if you know it, but this place has ghosts,” Hornik said. “And I know this because on my desk as mayor, every year, I get notified and asked if professional ghostbusters can come in here and run activities.
“Uh, by the way, it’s something we should probably do around Halloween here. It’d be a good event, right?” the mayor said to chuckles in the audience.
Contact Asbury Park Press reporter Erik Larsen at elarsen@gannettnj.com.