Wheatley Hall

Wheatley Hall was built in a far northwestern corner of the institution's boundary, leaving it curiously isolated from the rest of the campus as it appeared in 1933. It is a small, unassuming structure compared to the huge administration building and theater built during the same year. It initially functioned as a fifty-bed nursery, caring for the youngest patients, some no older than newborn babies. The modified-E plan of Wheatley was also used in nursery buildings at the state schools in Wrentham and Belchertown. It was named after Dr. Frank G. Wheatley, president of the Board of Trustees from 1911-1926, who was instrumental in re-naming the campus from the Massachusetts School of the Feeble Minded to the Walter E. Fernald State School when Fernald died in 1924.

The wards are fitted with high ceilings and large windows all around to maximize sunlight and ventilation. The basement did not appear to have been designed for any patient use, containing exposed pipes and utility lines, however the children's paintings on the walls are evidence to the contrary. It is quite possible the small, single story building had outgrown itself until the expansive Greene Unit was constructed nearby in 1953. Wheatley was last used as a furniture repair shop, when many of the oldest buildings at Fernald became too costly to keep up to code as residences. The original road used to access the building had disappeared over the years, so the eastern-facing main entrance now faces a courtyard containing a playground and an outdoor pool.

Architectural Description

This is a red-brick, Colonial Revival-style ward built on a popular 1930s plan, the modified E-plan. It rises one story from a cast-stone foundation to a slate gable roof with central cupola. The main entry is centered on the east facade, where it is fronted by a gabled wood portico and embraced by cross pavilions with corner quoins and Palladian windows. Windows contain 8/8 or 10/10 sash.