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Timeline
1855 -- A state commission announces that Northampton has been
selected as a site for the state's third hospital for the insane.
Later that year, 172 acres is purchased for $13,000.
1858 -- During the
spring, construction of the Northampton Lunatic Hospital is completed.
The cost of the project is $300,000. The hospital consisted of one
large building and was modeled after an Elizabethan style of
architecture. On July 1, the first patient is admitted. By Oct. 1,
there are 220 patients admitted.
1903 -- Title of the
institution is changed permanently to the Northampton State Hospital.
A new infirmary for women also opens. The patient population is up to
about 650, and the number of employees is 135.
1935 -- A new heating
plant, a new laundry building, a fourth ward building, a cafeteria,
and a tunnel connecting the new complex to the old are constructed.
There are now approximately 2,100 patients and 420 employees at the
hospital.
1952 -- Dr. Jack R.
Ewalt is appointed as superintendent. Ewalt is credited with making a
number of changes to the hospital, including re-modeling of wards,
adding a number of patient clinics and the opening of a beauty parlor,
which supposedly had strong results in the rehabilitation of female
patients. The hospital now has 2,331 patients and 509 employees.
1978 -- A federal
court in December orders the hospital to be shut down. That step
followed a request to the court to end the institutionalization of the
mentally ill.
1990 -- The state
Legislature passes a bill that makes 154 acres of the property and
some buildings available for reuse. The bills passage capped a
four-year effort led by State Rep. William P. Nagle.
1991 -- The state
announces in June that the hospital will close in one year, which was
eventually delayed to two years. The hospital is closing under a plan
to move mentally ill patients into private care. The final closing
meant that 129 patients will be moved and 315 jobs lost.
1993 -- On Aug. 26,
the last 17 patients leave the hospital.
Building Type
Buildings dating from the 1950s
Building size
Plans include 207 residential units,
476,000 square feet of commercial space, and a 60-80 unit assisted
living facility.
Site
Context
The master plan for the "mixed-use
village" calls for 207 units of new housing; an assisted-living
facility; ample open space; and over a 15-year period development of
400,000 square feet of office, light industrial and retail space.
Business activity has been projected to generate 750 jobs, 15 percent
to be earmarked for mental patients and former mental patients. There
will be a 60-80 unit assisted living facility, approx. 200 units of
mixed income rental and ownership housing, public walking trails,
potentially a museum, meeting space, and child care center. The
development process has been broken down into Phases A through D.
Design/Build Contractor
The Community Builders and Mass
Development
Web
Links
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