Administration Building

The school's second Administration Building was built in 1933 to replace the aging Waverley Hall. Its placement, along with Howe Hall, formed a new main boulevard that ran from its new main entrance on Trapelo Road. Its commanding appearance projected the confidence of a courthouse or similar institution, and its clock tower was remarkably similar to those of its adjacent institutions in Waltham (Metropolitan State Hospital, Middlesex County Sanitarium). It was published in a survey of public buildings constructed with PWA assistance in 1933-1939 (Short & Brown 1939: 351). Constructed at a cost of $112,850, it was described as containing "an office and work space for the chief clerk, two social-service rooms, two school testing rooms, three psychology rooms, photography room, offices for the chief of clinics and head of school clinic, examination rooms and a pharmacy, offices for the school administration, and a board room." The project was completed in October 1936.

The building was last used as offices for the Waltham Police Department, who maintained an office here after the school was closed. Upon their departure, the entirely vacant campus was assailed by vandals. The sculpted weather vane, as well as the clock faces and their machinery were stripped off the building, and a fire, crafted from documents left in the building, damaged the first floor.

Architectural Description

The thirteen-by-three-bay Administration Building represents the full transition to the Colonial Revival style following a hiatus in major building during the 1910s and 1920s. It is a well-detailed, one-story, red-brick building rising from a high basement and watertable to a slate hip roof. Its thirteen-bay facade (S) is organized with a center entry emphasized by a full pedimented portico surmounted by a cupola. The entry itself is distinguished by fluted pilasters, a pulvinated frieze, and broken pediment. Fenestration consists of round-arched windows with 12/12 sash, rising from blank balustrades and surmounted by cast-stone panels. Cast stone is also employed for keystones, corner quoins, and watertable. An eleven-bay wing with conventional 9/9 and 12/12 sash is centered on the rear elevation. The building received a flat-roofed, two-story rear ell ca. 1965. Hoyt designed the building.