In 1893 an addition to the Boiler House was planned for the electrical system which was to make its appearance for the first time; an addition to the Boiler House, 46 feet by 36 feet, was made. A steam fire pump (Hughes duplex type) was purchased and installed in the generator room. An additional boiler was also installed at this time, which gave a total capacity of 400 horsepower. A new smokestack, 50 feet high, was built in 1894 on the east side of the Boiler House. Three years later the chimney was raised 30 feet.

At this time, it was also determined to provide hot water from two very large tanks with a combined daily capacity of 50,000 gallons which were placed in the Boiler House. Water was supplied by these tanks under sufficient pressure to elevate it higher than any of the buildings. Asbestos-covered pipes conveyed the boiling water to the bathrooms, wards, kitchens, and dining halls. In 1898 a new boiler of 125 horsepower was installed and placed into service.

In 1899 the Michigan Central Railroad extended the sidetrack to the rear of the Boiler House and installed a 75-ton track scale west of the coal bin. The coal bin or shed was built in 1890, raised and used in 1893, and later formed a part of the Boiler House proper. Later the Board erected a coal shed north of the railroad track which was 54 feet long and 25 feet deep and sufficient to hold 400 tons of coal.

In 1900 an additional boiler of 125 horsepower was purchased. The electrical plant was placed into service in 1894, which occasioned the second chimney 50 feet east of the Boiler House, as mentioned before. Later, a new chimney 100 feet high and 16 feet square at the base replaced the first original chimney. In 1898 new boilers and a filter system were installed to purify the water taken from the lake and sent into the boilers. This system had the capacity to filter 200,00 gallons of water daily, free from all suspended impurities.

In 1904-1905 a Stoker system was installed under the four horizontal boilers. In 1912 the gravity system of water supply previously described was suspended in favor of a pressure tank in the Boiler House with a capacity of 200 pounds per square inch, which furnished the water under a steady pressure.

The population at Eloise continued to increase, calling for additional buildings; and in 1915, two additional boilers were required. Once again the Boiler House was extended west, with an addition of a building 28 feet by 40 feet and construction of a new chimney 105 feet high with a 10-foot base diameter.

No further additions or changes were made to the Boiler House until 1924 when it was torn down and a new Power Plant was constructed. The old boiler plant had been a piecemeal affair consisting of several buildings erected from time to time which were all joined together and presented a miscellaneous group which was anything but attractive.

[ This information presented in part from “A History of the Wayne County Infirmary, Psychiatric, and General Hospital Complex at Eloise, Michigan” by Alvin C. Clark; pages 106 -111. ]