Worcester State Hospital on states endangered list
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
The Worcester State Hospital complex on Belmont Hill has been placed on Preservation Massachusetts' "10 Most Endangered Historic Resources"� list.
Preservation Massachusetts officials said the 130-year-old campus, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is an unusually good example of Victorian Gothic institutional architecture and they fear the state will demolish most of the complex to build a new psychiatric facility.
The hospital was placed on Preservation Worcester's list of endangered properties back in 1995.
"It has remained vacant and deteriorating since then,"� said James Igoe, Preservation Massachusetts' president. "This complex is an immense landmark within the city of Worcester and the last remaining of the state hospitals."
Mr. Igoe urged state officials to consider retrofitting the complex for other uses.
The main building was built in 1877 of rock-faced granite and red brick.
Preservation Massachusetts officials said that, although portions of the building were destroyed by fire in 1991, the surviving sections are "of outstanding architectural merit, most notably the clock tower."�
The tower, which is visible for miles, housed administrative offices and was designed as the main entrance to the facility.
Preservation Massachusetts officials said freestanding sections of the hospital's east and west wings, as well as the old laundry, a morgue and a dormitory, are also threatened with demolition.
Deborah Packard, executive director of Preservation Worcester, said local preservationists are willing to work with state officials to find options.
"We recognize the significant economic benefit of a psychiatric facility to the area and understand that the priority must be patient treatment,"� she said. "However, it is critical not to lose our connection to the early history of mental health treatment that the hospital symbolizes."
Preservation Massachusetts, a nonprofit founded in 1985, has put out a list of endangered properties over the past 13 years.
Other properties listed this year are in Boston, Beverly, Framingham, Middlefield, Chester, Becket, Newburyport, Pittsfield and Winchester.
Preservation Massachusetts officials said the 130-year-old campus, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is an unusually good example of Victorian Gothic institutional architecture and they fear the state will demolish most of the complex to build a new psychiatric facility.
The hospital was placed on Preservation Worcester's list of endangered properties back in 1995.
"It has remained vacant and deteriorating since then,"� said James Igoe, Preservation Massachusetts' president. "This complex is an immense landmark within the city of Worcester and the last remaining of the state hospitals."
Mr. Igoe urged state officials to consider retrofitting the complex for other uses.
The main building was built in 1877 of rock-faced granite and red brick.
Preservation Massachusetts officials said that, although portions of the building were destroyed by fire in 1991, the surviving sections are "of outstanding architectural merit, most notably the clock tower."�
The tower, which is visible for miles, housed administrative offices and was designed as the main entrance to the facility.
Preservation Massachusetts officials said freestanding sections of the hospital's east and west wings, as well as the old laundry, a morgue and a dormitory, are also threatened with demolition.
Deborah Packard, executive director of Preservation Worcester, said local preservationists are willing to work with state officials to find options.
"We recognize the significant economic benefit of a psychiatric facility to the area and understand that the priority must be patient treatment,"� she said. "However, it is critical not to lose our connection to the early history of mental health treatment that the hospital symbolizes."
Preservation Massachusetts, a nonprofit founded in 1985, has put out a list of endangered properties over the past 13 years.
Other properties listed this year are in Boston, Beverly, Framingham, Middlefield, Chester, Becket, Newburyport, Pittsfield and Winchester.
This article was
published by Worcester Telegram & Gazette
on Wednesday, September 27