text: Preservationists are battling to save a decaying asylum which achieved notoriety in the 1900s for the vast number of patients who committed suicide and were raped. Greystone Park Psychiatric Center, in New Jersey, was built to house hundreds of mentally ill patients, but it eventually was home to more than 7,500 people. It has long been abandoned and has been left to fall into disarray, now known for its crumbling walls, flaking plaster and gaping holes in ceilings and staircases which has allowed some of the rooms to be filled with leaves and snow. Scroll down for video . A decaying asylum which has been left to fall into disarray, with broken and peeling doors and windows, is being demolished as preservationists battle to save it and claim the building should be turned into a museum and housing . Many of the once well populated corridors of the building have been abandoned as rubbish is seen on the floor and walls are flaking . However, despite the state of the interior of the building and its chequered past, preservationists are arguing that it should not be bulldozed and should instead be converted into a museum and housing. Demolition work recently began on the building but preservationists are still working to save the French Renaissance-style building, and the years of history contained within its walls. American folk singer Woody Guthrie, who wrote hundreds of songs and made famous recordings of Red River Valley and This Land is Your Land, was committed in 1956 with Huntington's Disease. The genetic disorder had blighted the life of his mother and made it difficult for him to walk, causing wild fluctuations in mood. Even as Guthrie was in his final years before he died in 1967, folk revivalists were basing a new scene on Guthrie's genius in New York's Greenwich Village. One of his visitors in Greystone Park was a 19-year-old Bob Dylan. Greystone Park became one of the largest asylums, housing 7,500 patients, and became known for high numbers of rapes and suicides . Despite its long forgotten rooms and flaking examples of architecture, the future of Greystone Park has been hotly contested . Due to its extremely large size, Greystone Park was once the largest building in the US, but was surpassed by the Pentagon . The interior of the building has been left to decay so badly, with windows and roofing blown out, it would be too expensive to restore it . But campaigners claim the French Renaissance-style building contains a lot of elements of history that should be preserved not destroyed . The centre was also once used as a filming location. Greystone opened in 1876 and became known for its reputation due to the number of patients that committed suicide, were raped, and became pregnant. It was opened to relieve pressure on a nearby facility and covers around 678,000 square feet . The main building was widely said to be the largest by footprint in the U.S. until 1943, when it was surpassed by the Pentagon - which has 6.5million square feet altogether. The population of the hospital reached its peak in 1953, when millions of shell-shocked soldiers returned from the Second World War suffering from what is now widely known as post-traumatic stress disorder. Corridors have been left to crumble while some doors have been lost completely, as empty chairs are scattered throughout the rooms (right) A chair (left) shows visible signs of rust and decay, while the inside of the building has become known for its holes in the ceilings (right) The building opened in 1876 and expanded to treat more than 7,000 patients in the 120 years it was open for before closing in 2003 . By then it held 7,674 patients and was a self-sufficient campus, with facilities including a laundry, chapel, dental clinic, infirmary, classrooms, therapy buildings, dormitories and even a power station. The buildings began to decay, with plaster and paint peeling from the walls and bookshelves and door frames left warped. Patients were moved out in 1988 and the asylum closed for good in 2003 when administration staff also left. It was later photographed by Matthew Christopher, who captures abandoned buildings across America. The State of New Jersey awarded a $34 million demolition contract to tear down the 675,000-square-foot building, while other, privately-funded options were available, it was reported. The asylum once had famous visitors, with a young Bob Dylan regularly coming to visit resident patient American folk singer Woody Guthrie . It was originally built to house around 800 patients but later became home to more than 7,600 patients, reaching its peak in 1953 . The asylum closed for good in 2003 and has long been left abandoned, but campaigners want to reclaim it and use it as a museum . It was decided that the building should be demolished after the interior was deemed to have decayed so much that restoration would be too expensive. Mr Christopher said: 'While many people see state hospitals as a sort of "house of horrors" they are an important part of our past - architecturally, socially, and economically. 'They were built at tremendous cost to the states they were in with quite a bit of optimism and hope about the treatment of those suffering from mental illnesses. 'As these buildings vanish - and so many are gone as it is - so too does our ability to connect with our past, to understand and discuss the realities of treatment there, and to return them to positive use. 'I think they're beautiful buildings and tremendous assets, and that it is shameful and wasteful to destroy them and pretend they were never there. 'Greystone could have been saved, and it still can.' Preservationists have criticised officials for failing to consult with developers who were keen to restore and reuse the iconic building.
target: Greystone Park Psychiatric Center in New Jersey became known for the number of rapes and suicides taking place .
  Building officially closed in 2003 and was abandoned, with walls and ceilings left to crumble and flake away .
  Demolition work has begun on the French Renaissance-style building, after interior found too expensive to restore .
  But preservationists have argued that the 1800s building should be preserved and turned into museum and housing .