Built in 1904 and 1906, the Violent Ward Buildings housed the most disturbed and noisy patients. The original design of the buildings were laid out with an open air court yard in the middle where patient would be able to enjoy fresh air and sunlight, but still be in a controllable environment. Today (2009) the male building still has it's court yard, the female building however has had it's court yard closed in and converted to additional rooms and offices. Both the male and female buildings received several additions over the years, but from the outside the original sections of the buildings do still appear almost exactly as they did in 1905 and 1908.

Cherrywood Fire

Shortly before midnight on December 9, 2024 the Cherrywood building caught on fire due to an electrical malfunction in the HVAC equipment located in the attic. Despite the building being made of mostly fire-proof materials, the roof was still made of traditional wood beams. The fire spead quickly, engulfing most of the attic before the fire department was even onsite. A driver on Arsenal Blvd called in the fire, which was dispatched at first as a brush fire. When the fire department arrived onsite they did what the could with the water supply in their trucks, but progress was severely hindered by the fire hydrants on the grounds, which not functioning. A tanker task force was established to shuttle water up the hill from the Farm Show Complex. The fire fighters focused their efforts on preventing the fire from speading to the Cherrywood Annex and the bridge connecting to Willow Oak. Several hours passed before the fire hydrant system issue was resolved and fire fighters were able to finally extinguish the flames. Crews remained onsite well into the next day on Dec 10th putting out hot spots. Escavators from PennDot and a private contractor were brought in to demolish what remained of the building. Photos of the fire and aftermath can been seen on my Flickr.