Hospital Hill Apartments Open - Northampton State Hospital News Articles at Opacity

NORTHAMPTON - Where there was once was despair, fresh possibility reigned yesterday on the sprawling grounds of the former Northampton State Hospital.

Two brick buildings where hospital staff once lived while tending to the mentally ill were the focus of yesterday's celebration, which

marked the grand opening of Hilltop Apartments. The buildings are now divided into 33 affordable housing units, and are the first finished development on the site of the old campus, now known as Hospital Hill.

"This is a monumental day for the city," Mayor Mary Clare Higgins told a crowd of state, local, development and financial officials gathered under a white tent. "This is really the realization of a dream that many people have had for a long time."

The 19th-century state hospital closed in 1993, but nearly two decades before that the first committee had already met to study the future redevelopment of the site. Over the years, plans were proposed and plans were scrapped. But in the last few years, The Village at Hospital Hill started taking shape as legislation and funding fell into place.

MassDevelopment, a quasi-public state agency, is in charge of developing the site, which is divided into two sections by Route 66.

The development plans call for a total of 476,000 square feet of new and renovated office, retail and light industrial space, along with 207 housing units - 50 percent of them affordable - including rental apartments, town houses, condominiums and single family homes, and 60 to 80 assisted living units. Fifteen percent of the housing has been set aside for people with mental illness.

"It was the vision of many individuals dating back to the 1970s," said Elizabeth A. Sullivan, area director of the state Department of

Mental Health. "It's very meaningful to our clients, their families and the community."

MassDevelopment and The Community Builders, a non-profit developer, have formed a partnership to transform the 126-acre site into a "smart growth" community. It is here that Angelique C. Kindel has decided to raise her two children. She moved into Hilltop West on Feb. 6 after her house in Enfield burned down in December.

"My grandmother used to work at the state hospital and she saw it on

the news and she suggested I take a look," Kindel said. "I love it. I really like the location. Northampton is a safe, safe place."

The apartments were built by Aquadro and Cerruti, Inc. of Northampton and designed by Dietz & Company Architects, Inc. of Springfield. They are bright and clean and include one-, two- and three-bedroom units. About six apartments are already occupied. The project cost just over $8 million.

Currently, a mixture of commercial and industrial businesses are being sought to fill the available spaces. The city has called the Village at Hospital Hill its highest-priority economic initiative. It's estimated 400 to 800 new jobs could be created once the project is complete.

The bulk of the south campus, which includes 324,000 square feet, won't be ready for building until mid- to late 2007 because infrastructure work needs to be completed first. But, there are a

few industrial and commercial lots available now. "We're bringing life back to this campus that was abandoned for many years," said Richard C. Henderson, executive vice president of real estate for MassDevelopment as he stood inside the hallway of Hilltop East. "This is a great first step."

This article was written by Holly Angelo and published by The Republican on Saturday, February 18th 2006 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 Apartments Open Saturday, February 18th 2006 Holly Angelo The Republican NORTHAMPTON - Where there was once was despair, fresh possibility reigned yesterday on the sprawling grounds of the former Northampton State Hospital. Two brick buildings where hospital staff once lived while tending to the mentally ill were the focus of yesterday's celebration, which marked the grand opening of Hilltop Apartments. The buildings are now divided into 33 affordable housing units, and are the first finished development on the site of the old campus, now known as Hospital Hill. "This is a monumental day for the city," Mayor Mary Clare Higgins told a crowd of state, local, development and financial officials gathered under a white tent. "This is really the realization of a dream that many people have had for a long time." The 19th-century state hospital closed in 1993, but nearly two decades before that the first committee had already met to study the future redevelopment of the site. Over the years, plans were proposed and plans were scrapped. But in the last few years, The Village at Hospital Hill started taking shape as legislation and funding fell into place. MassDevelopment, a quasi-public state agency, is in charge of developing the site, which is divided into two sections by Route 66. The development plans call for a total of 476,000 square feet of new and renovated office, retail and light industrial space, along with 207 housing units - 50 percent of them affordable - including rental apartments, town houses, condominiums and single family homes, and 60 to 80 assisted living units. Fifteen percent of the housing has been set aside for people with mental illness. "It was the vision of many individuals dating back to the 1970s," said Elizabeth A. Sullivan, area director of the state Department of Mental Health. "It's very meaningful to our clients, their families and the community." MassDevelopment and The Community Builders, a non-profit developer, have formed a partnership to transform the 126-acre site into a "smart growth" community. It is here that Angelique C. Kindel has decided to raise her two children. She moved into Hilltop West on Feb. 6 after her house in Enfield burned down in December. "My grandmother used to work at the state hospital and she saw it on the news and she suggested I take a look," Kindel said. "I love it. I really like the location. Northampton is a safe, safe place." The apartments were built by Aquadro and Cerruti, Inc. of Northampton and designed by Dietz & Company Architects, Inc. of Springfield. They are bright and clean and include one-, two- and three-bedroom units. About six apartments are already occupied. The project cost just over $8 million. Currently, a mixture of commercial and industrial businesses are being sought to fill the available spaces. The city has called the Village at Hospital Hill its highest-priority economic initiative. It's estimated 400 to 800 new jobs could be created once the project is complete. The bulk of the south campus, which includes 324,000 square feet, won't be ready for building until mid- to late 2007 because infrastructure work needs to be completed first. But, there are a few industrial and commercial lots available now. "We're bringing life back to this campus that was abandoned for many years," said Richard C. Henderson, executive vice president of real estate for MassDevelopment as he stood inside the hallway of Hilltop East. "This is a great first step." This article was written by Holly Angelo and published by The Republican on Saturday, February 18th 2006 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.