After falling into disrepair after years of abandonment, a former hospital in Saratoga County will now go to the highest bidder.
For sale: a sprawling two-story former tuberculosis sanatorium on 28 acres in rural Saratoga County.
The building known as the Homestead Infirmary in the town of Providence was shuttered in 1973. The county sold the hospital in 1982, but it went unoccupied and attracted vandalism and looters.
Over the years, the building also developed its own mythology: that it was an insane asylum, that it’s haunted.
Saratoga County Historian Lauren Roberts said she gets more calls about the property as Halloween approaches. But she said the stories aren’t true.
“There really is no kind of documentary record to back up all these crazy stories that you see online. It was really a place that tried to help people that were sick with tuberculosis.”
The name and the rural location of the property go back to a man named Horace Carpentier. In the early 20th century, a time before antibiotics, the county was searching for a place to build the hospital. Roberts says Carpentier gave the land to the county.
“And it was the place where he grew up. He called it his homestead, which is how it got the name “The Homestead.” It was where his father’s home was. And he gave it to the county for free in hopes that it would become some sort of a medical facility."
The Homestead Infirmary operated as a tuberculosis hospital from 1914 until 1960.
Originally a wooden structure, the brick building that stands today was constructed in the early 1930s. From 1961 until 1972, the building served as the county’s nursing home. In 1982, it was sold with hopes of being redeveloped, but that never happened.
Last year, the county reclaimed the property due to back taxes and is now attempting to sell it again. Saratoga County Attorney Steve Dorsey…
“We’re hoping to really get this in the hands of somebody who is going to do something positive with the property. Whether it is rehabbing the structure that exists or tearing it down and building something new…”
Beginning in fall 2015 and continuing through July of 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency performed asbestos remediation on the property.
“And we reached an agreement with them that allowed us to foreclose our delinquent tax lien on the property in exchange for them giving us a release of lien that would extend to the county and any purchaser at auction,” said Dorsey.
Dorsey says the agreement with EPA also allows the county to share proceeds from the sale.
At press time, the current bid for the property was $32,600. Bidding ends at noon on August 28th. For a link to the online auction, visit: https://www.auctionsinternational.com/auction/18276/item/saratoga-county-homestead-18276-110744
