She grew up on the SDC grounds. Now she’s worried about its future.
By Jonathan Farrell —
When the State of California made its decision to shut down the Sonoma Developmental Center, among those who cringed at the mere thought was Sonoma resident Kathy Ostram.
For her, the long-empty SDC campus, now poised for major development, has a special significance.
“It was my home,” said Ostram. “My dad, Dr. Donald Bramwell, MD was the director of what was then the Sonoma State Hospital. He was in charge of everything.”
Ostram has been keeping up on the status of the SDC, its buildings and the surrounding grounds, through news reports and various discussions over the past five years.
“I often wonder, what are they thinking? The various officials and state administrators. There’s so much to the place and it’s so beautiful, said Ostram. “ It would be terrible if it got heavily developed or mismanaged.”
She questions the wisdom that State officials used in making the decision to close SDC.
The 945-acre rural area in which the SDC is situated is called Eldridge. Once part of an old land grant, going back to early California days called ‘Rancho de Cabeza de Santa Rosa,’ it’s named after James Eldridge, who once owned it.
“Basically it’s a town within itself, sort of self-sufficient. I can’t envision lots of tract houses and strip malls, shopping centers. What about all the buildings and facilities already there?”
Surrounded by the adjacent sleepy and historic town of Glen Ellen, to have a massive development of any sort would be a major disruption. “What about the traffic and congestion it would cause? Sonoma Valley would never be the same again.”
Her recollections of SDC are bittersweet. Arriving in Sonoma in her teens, in the 1960s, her father had taken on the job of director of the Sonoma State Hospital after his work at Arizona State Hospital in Phoenix.
“My dad was an administrator and a very ambitious one,” said Ostram. “He was responsible for just about every aspect of the facility.”
She remembers the facility and the surroundings as much different then. “Sonoma State Hospital was a large facility even then. It was very busy attending to patients’ needs.” At its peak, the facility housed over 1,500 patients and was the largest employer in Sonoma County.
She also mentioned how the attitudes towards mental illness have changed over the past 50 years. There’s much debate as to whether or not Ronald Reagan’s actions as Governor of the State of California helped or damaged the mental health system. “When Reagan repealed the Mental Health Systems Act (MHSA) of 1980, a lot changed,” she said.
Concerned that an important opportunity probably will not be handled very well, Ostram believes more can and should be done to utilize the SDC to help people.
“Our homeless and mentally disabled population seems to be increasing, a place like the SDC would be ideal in helping them. Everything is right here. It just needs to be renovated, upgraded, and restored,” said Ostram. “I can see the SDC as a college or perhaps even better as a hospital and medical center.”
Not long ago, she stopped by the Director’s house (a historic structure likely to survive the impending development) that she and her mom and dad lived in during his tenure. Seeing the recent pictorial article in the Sonoma Valley Sun stirred up many memories.
Like many of the buildings at SDC the once-grand residence is weathered and faded. “This was such a lovely house,” she said regretfully. “It’s now so neglected.”
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I’m wondering if you can help me. I’m trying to find an aunt of ours that we just found out about. She was a patient at Sonoma state when it closed. Is there a way to find out where to patients were moved to? Both her own parents had passed, so I believe she had become a ward of the state… I’m trying to track her down.