Asylum: Not Abandoned

This character-driven film revolves around a central figure—a building that has lived many lives: the Sheboygan County Hospital and those who have loved it and feel protective of it. Once a county mental institution, it was home to hundreds of residents and those who cared for them. Its halls echoed with daily life, a place where compassion and controversy coexisted. Today, its mid-century architecture still stands, but its identity has shifted, layered with myths, rumors, and reinvention.

The story begins with a family and the pride and stigma of growing up as the children of the administrators of a midcentury mental hospital in the middle of Wisconsin corn and soybean fields. Through my dad’s and aunt’s memories, we uncover a portrait of a time they recall with warmth and nostalgia, getting to know this building not just as an institution but as a family home and haven.

We then expand to past employees whose recollections reveal the humanity behind a system often reduced to stereotypes, and to the current owners who have transformed the property while it remains inseparable from its history and lore. After its closure, it became a magnet for thrill-seekers and ghost hunters, creating sensational narratives that clash with quieter truths.

Ultimately, this is a film about memory, identity, and reconciling lived experience with legend—asking how history, myth, and belonging can coexist.