Save the Date
Swing into Spring
Saturday
April 14, 2012
Join us as for dinner and dancing as we present the Soft Touch Dance Band featuring guest vocalists Dale LePage and Jennifer Antkowiak at the Beechwood Hotel.
Click here for more details.
By the Canal Tour
Click here to access information, maps and audio files for Preservation Worcester's self-guided tour of the Blackstone Canal District in Worcester.
Charter TV3 Newscast of By the Canal Tour Unveiling
Click here to access the Charter TV3 newscast ot the By the Canal Tour unveiling, which broadcast on November 16, 2011.
2012 Endangered Structures Nominations
We are accepting nominations for our 2012 endangered structures list.
Click here to
obtain a copy of the the 2012 Endangered Structures Form to submit your nomination to us.
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"Save the Best to Last"
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The clock is ticking on the Clock Tower...
See below to find out how you can help us save the Worcester State Hospital Clock Tower.
Save the Clock Tower Campaign
We need your immediate and strong support to safe-guard the Clock Tower.
Please comment on the Worcester State Hospital Clock Tower Demolition Environmental Notification Form prepared under the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act. Written comments are due on January 10, 2102 and should be addressed to:
Secretary Richard K. Sullivan Jr.
EEA, Attn: MEPA Office
Deirdre Buckley, EEA No.
100 Cambridge Street, Suite 900
Boston, MA 02114-2524
Alternatively you can email your comments directly to Deirdre Buckley at deirdre.buckley@state.ma.us.
Click here to obtain a copy of the Worcester State Hospital Clock Tower Demolition Environmental Notification Form.
Please send a letter to your state elected officials and commissioners. It is simple. You can use our template letter and addresses, which are provided below.
Click here for historical information on the Clock Tower.
Click here to download our template letter.
Click here to download your elected officials' addresses.
“Like” our Facebook page Save the Worcester State Hospital Clock Tower. Click here to go to our Facebook page.
Click here to sign our online petition at ipetitions.com.
Click here to watch My Fox Boston's September 3rd newscast on the Clock Tower.
Get your friends, relatives and colleagues to act. Time is running out.
The fate of the historic Clock Tower is precarious because of a ruling by the National Park Service that the structure does not quality for Historic Tax Credits. A meeting was held at Preservation Worcester on July 27, 2011 with Carole Cornelison, Commissioner of the Division of Capital Asset Management (DCAM), eight additional DCAM employees, Barbara Leadholm, Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health (DMH), an additional DMH employee, Brandee Laughlin (Massachusetts Historical Commission), Drew Leff (GLC Development Resources). Michele Barker (Preservation Massachusetts) and 7 Preservation Worcester affiliated representatives. At that meeting, updates were given on the Clock Tower and the new psychiatric hospital. We were informed that because of the condition of the Clock Tower and the expenses associated with redevelopment or stabilization, DCAM plans to demolish the Clock Tower prior to the opening of the new psychiatric hospital, scheduled to open in 2012.
The DCAM asked our group to participate in mitigation process. We are not ready to discuss mitigation for the demolition of the Clock Tower, and feel that the state needs to make an attempt to market the Clock Tower. We need community support from people interested in preserving the property.
The Worcester State Lunatic Hospital, the original name of the Worcester State Hospital, was the first state-owned hospital established in this country to treat mental illnesses. It was designed by architects Weston and Rand of Boston in the Victorian Gothic style. The original design was created to reflect the ideas of Dr. Thomas Kirkbride, who promoted the “moral treatment” of the mentally ill. The historic hospital campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The hospital was built between 1874 and 1877. With the exception of the Clock Tower and Hooper Turret, the entire facility was demolished to make way for the state’s first new psychiatric hospital in almost fifty years. The $302 million project is one of the largest capital projects commissioned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The facility is scheduled to open in 2012.
The unique Clock Tower stands 250 feet above Lake Quinsigamond and can be seen from a great distance. The Hooper Turret is a freestanding circular building. Both buildings are made of ferruginous gneiss rubble, a fragile stone that was quarried from nearby land, and are bordered with red brick to provide stability and rock-faced granite for ornamentation. The Clock Tower suffers from deferred maintenance and critically needs stabilization.
About Us
The mission of Preservation Worcester is to preserve for future generations the sites and structures which are significant to the culture, history, and architecture of the city and to encourage excellence in design in the future.
Preservation Worcester is a private, not-for-profit membership organization dedicated to the preservation of buildings, sites, and neighborhoods which represent the culture, history, and architecture of Worcester, Massachusetts.
Preservation Worcester believes that protecting the best of Worcester’s architectural heritage and promoting good design encourages community pride and identity.
To further its goals, Preservation Worcester works with neighborhood groups, developers, city departments, schools, and state and local historical commissions.
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