- Aradale Mental Hospital
Construction
It was built largely by subcontractors and not patients (or "clients" as they were called) as many erroneously believe. The outer brick fence was built by ex-pat British contractors and is evidenced in the style of bricklaying used. The asylum was built as a town within a town with its own market gardens, piggery and other stock kept on the grounds. At its height it had over 500 staff and as it stands today the complex is made up of 63 buildings ranging in age from the original wings built in 1860 to the modern forensic unit which was built in 1991 - only two years before the facility closed. Despite being closed as an asylum the facility continued to house female prisoners during the building/renovation of
In 2001 the Victorian Government provided $7.4 million to NMIT to establish a campus of the Australian College of Wine on the site of the hospital. 30 hectares of vineyard and 10 hectares of olive grove were planted in 2002 and an olive processing facility and winery were later built on site. The College campus was established to provide in Victoria a world-class wine and hospitality training facility. [
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External links
* [http://www.path.unimelb.edu.au/~bernardk/victoria/virtual/aradale.html 3d image of Aradale Mental Hospital]
References
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