West Building

The West building was the first purpose-built structure designed to care for disabled children in the United States. Arriving from the cramped schoolhouse in South Boston, they now had an idyllic place to live, away from the noisy city. Originally known as simply the "Asylum," the West building was built in 1890 to receive the most severely disabled students who could not function without constant supervision. These children were referred to as "custodial" or "incurable," i.e. there was little or no hope of bringing the person into the accepted norms of society.

The architect, William Preston, based the layout of the building on the Willard Insane Asylum in New York, as it was the only institution designed to care for this class of patient at the time. The modified E-plan incorporated many aspects found in state hospital design: a central backbone consisting of staff quarters and kitchen with two projecting wings for patients, separated by gender. It differed in its size however - being relatively small and low to the ground, the West building began to resemble a new form of institutional design known as the cottage plan. Narrow connecting corridors, along with high ceilings and large south-facing windows maximized exposure to light and fresh air, which, at the time, was thought to have a curative effect on the mind.

The entrance to West building was strikingly different from other state institutions - where an elaborate and symmetrical portico would normally be found to impress visitors, Preston instead used this space for a utilitarian dining hall and placed the main entrance off to one side, emphasizing its intended use for custodial cases (where there were sadly, but typically, few visitors). As Walter Fernald notes, the rolling hills and shady groves surrounding the structure were designed to house patients "without exposing their deformities and deficiencies to the gaze of idle curiosity-seekers."

West building opened on March 6, 1890, accepting sixty-one boys and girls from the custodial wards in Boston; by the end of the year, 120 young children were living here. They were cared for with much compassion and oversight during these early years, engaged with simple activities such as singing and playing with blocks to improve motor skills. Higher functioning females patients lived on the second floor and helped the matron and steward with their duties - much like the boys "helping" clear the land for the hospital, this free labor opportunity appears to have been purposefully designed in the floor plan.

These children are amused and occupied, and receive such rudimentary mental and physical discipline as will be a benefit to them. Especially do they need and receive patient and continued habit-training, and daily and hourly lessons in decency and behavior. When admitted, nearly every one of these children were untidy, noisy, stubborn and intractable generally. Few of them had been under any sort of control or discipline. One of them had not been out of doors for over three years. Three had been confined in a barred room at home. Many of them were paralyzed or helpless, and could not feed or dress themselves. How to properly care for them was a discouraging problem. The wards were veritable bedlams. The children shrieked and made dreadful noises, tore off and destroyed their clothing, and seemed utterly unmanageable. Their attendants were appalled and discouraged at the apparent hopelessness of trying to bring any degree of order out of such chaos, and were almost ready to resign in a body. But already a surprising and gratifying change has been effected. Careful day and night supervision and attention has reduced the number of wet and soiled beds from an average of forty-six to eight. Seventeen children who daily wet or soiled their clothing have become habitually cleanly. Four of the helpless ones, who had never taken a step, have been taught to walk. As a whole, they have become far more quiet, orderly and tractable. Many have learned to take part in the little games and marches, and other simple exercises which attract and fix their attention, and encourage definite and desirable bodily and mental activity.

The building was expanded several times in the early twentieth century, including a new dining room, staff quarters, porches, a classroom and outdoor showers. As the children grew older, the boys were moved to other buildings on campus and young women of child-bearing age resided in the top floor of the building until appropriate structures were built in later years. Despite the best intentions of the school, living conditions at West degraded as overcrowding and under-funding plagued the school.

The upper floors were closed off to residential use in 1973 due to safety concerns. Eventually, all patients were moved into newer residences on campus. The aging building was used for storage until it was ultimately condemned and left to decay. As an interesting side effect, the equipment left inside created a veritable museum of wheelchairs, prone standers, and other equipment that was custom-made at the school's workshops.

Architectural Description

Located on the south ridge of the campus, the Queen Anne/Romanesque Revival-style West Building is built on an E-plan with a two-story central pavilion (originally containing the dining room) projecting from the south elevation as its organizing focus. Boys' and girls' wards were located in the east and west wings, respectively. The red brick building rises one to two stories from a fieldstone foundation to a slate gable and hip roof. It is trimmed with sandstone sills, beltcourses, and coping, as well as brick buttresses, corbelling, and decorative panels. The main entry, recessed behind a wide Romanesque Revival-style arch, is located to the right of the dining pavilion. Windows contain a variety of multi-pane sash (6/6, 8/8, 9/9), are often paired, and are sometimes set in segmental arches. William G. Preston was the architect. In 1915, wooden floors were replaced with more sanitary and fireproof terrazzo over concrete, the plumbing was replaced, and a porch was added. The central wing has also been extended over the years to accommodate a kitchen and employee dormitories.