Hospital Hill Getting Face-Lift - Northampton State Hospital News Articles at Opacity

NORTHAMPTON - The old buildings at the former Northampton State Hospital are coming down like a ton of bricks, making way for The Village on Hospital Hill.

In fact, many tons have come down in recent weeks, filling up dump trucks as one of the biggest projects in the city's history gathers steam.

According to Elizabeth T. Murphy, a vice president with MassDevelopment, one of the project's developers, workers are in the process of demolishing some connector buildings on the south campus, which will contain the commercial and light industrial portion of the complex.

"You'll see that we're trying to preserve a couple of buildings with cupolas," Murphy said. "They're really quite attractive."

The Village on Hospital Hill will be a mixture of commercial and residential space that developers envision as a sort of self-contained community. It will include both market-price and affordable housing ranging from apartments to single-family homes.

The project is situated less than a mile from downtown, atop the hill where Northampton State Hospital stood for more than a century. The hospital closed a decade ago as mental health moved toward deinstitutionalization.

To date, crews have demolished a smokestack and filled in some tunnels that connected the buildings in the hospital complex. Murphy said the buildings with the cupolas were built in the 1930s and will be used for commercial space.

Demolition on that part of the complex is scheduled to end by September, at which time MassDevelopment will begin marketing the space.

Work has also begun on an area called The Ice Pond, about a mile west of the main complex on Route 66. That section will feature 26 new houses, six of them affordable.

Murphy said that Community Builders, which is developing the project with MassDevelopment, has completed work on the six affordable homes. Lots for the others have been sold, she said.

On the north side of Route 66, work will begin in the fall on construction of 181 residential units. These will include 33 apartments in two renovated brick buildings.

Last October, Gov. W. Mitt Romney visited the site and pledged $1 million in state aid toward the project. Twenty-five of the units will be set aside for people who earn less than 80 percent of the median income in the area.

This article was written by Fred Contrada and published by Springfield Republican on Friday, May 28th 2004 and NOT owned by nor affiliated with opacity.us, but are recorded here solely for educational use. The photographs featured in the article are randomly selected from the Northampton State Hospital galleries on opacity.us unless noted otherwise; they may not directly relate to the article subject matter except for the site location - any other relation is purely coincidental.


	Hospital Hill Getting Face-Lift Friday, May 28th 2004 Fred Contrada Springfield Republican NORTHAMPTON - The old buildings at the former Northampton State Hospital are coming down like a ton of bricks, making way for The Village on Hospital Hill. In fact, many tons have come down in recent weeks, filling up dump trucks as one of the biggest projects in the city's history gathers steam. According to Elizabeth T. Murphy, a vice president with MassDevelopment, one of the project's developers, workers are in the process of demolishing some connector buildings on the south campus, which will contain the commercial and light industrial portion of the complex. "You'll see that we're trying to preserve a couple of buildings with cupolas," Murphy said. "They're really quite attractive." The Village on Hospital Hill will be a mixture of commercial and residential space that developers envision as a sort of self-contained community. It will include both market-price and affordable housing ranging from apartments to single-family homes. The project is situated less than a mile from downtown, atop the hill where Northampton State Hospital stood for more than a century. The hospital closed a decade ago as mental health moved toward deinstitutionalization. To date, crews have demolished a smokestack and filled in some tunnels that connected the buildings in the hospital complex. Murphy said the buildings with the cupolas were built in the 1930s and will be used for commercial space. Demolition on that part of the complex is scheduled to end by September, at which time MassDevelopment will begin marketing the space. Work has also begun on an area called The Ice Pond, about a mile west of the main complex on Route 66. That section will feature 26 new houses, six of them affordable. Murphy said that Community Builders, which is developing the project with MassDevelopment, has completed work on the six affordable homes. Lots for the others have been sold, she said. On the north side of Route 66, work will begin in the fall on construction of 181 residential units. These will include 33 apartments in two renovated brick buildings. Last October, Gov. W. Mitt Romney visited the site and pledged $1 million in state aid toward the project. Twenty-five of the units will be set aside for people who earn less than 80 percent of the median income in the area. This article was written by Fred Contrada and published by Springfield Republican on Friday, May 28th 2004 and NOT owned by nor affiliated with opacity.us, but are recorded here solely for educational use. The photographs featured in the article are randomly selected from the Northampton State Hospital galleries on opacity.us unless noted otherwise; they may not directly relate to the article subject matter except for the site location - any other relation is purely coincidental.