Future Of Hospital Site Crucial To Region
The history of Westborough State Hospital is part of the larger story of how Massachusetts became a pioneering leader in the creation of an extensive, humane, and nationally renowned system to care for its dependent citizens. Opened in 1884, the hospital was one of at least 31 facilities constructed across the state. Changes in mental health treatments, and strains on state budgets brought about the slow end to state-run hospital systems both in Massachusetts and throughout the nation.
Over the last several decades operations at the Westborough State Hospital have been significantly scaled back. In late 2005, the state’s Facility Feasibility Commission recommended building a regional mental health facility in Worcester on the grounds of the Worcester State Hospital instead of expanding at Westborough State Hospital. The final closure of the hospital effectively took place earlier this month.
Since the announcement of the closing in 2005, the 495/MetroWest Partnership’s only goal associated with the hospital has been to create a mechanism for Westborough and Northborough to work with the Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management, the agency charged with managing surplus state property, to collaborate on an effective reuse for the site. Contrary to an editorial in a recent Worcester Business Journal ("Developmental Disorder," June 21, 2010), the partnership has never supported a specific reuse for the property. The creation of the Westborough Hospital Special Commission, which was championed by the partnership and fought for by the state legislative delegation, offers the opportunity for meaningful collaboration between various state agencies and the two towns.
When Westborough State Hospital was originally built, the region surrounding it was largely the rural hinterlands of Boston and Worcester. Today, the 495/MetroWest region is one of the fastest-growing and most economically critical to Massachusetts. The “borough municipalities” of Westborough, Northborough, Southborough and Marlborough are illustrative of this growth. Collectively, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council estimates that these four municipalities will grow in population from 77,047 in 2000 to 85,020 in 2030, a 10-percent increase. Employment is expected to grow at a 20-percent clip over the same period.
The largest challenge for these communities over the coming decades is how to manage the population and employment growth in a sustainable way that will enrich the region economically and improve, rather than negatively impact, quality of life. Similar to other large-scale redevelopments of formerly publicly owned property such as Devens and Grafton State Hospital, the surplusing of Westborough State Hospital offers potential. The property can accommodate a portion of the population and employment growth in the region, in a part of the state that has fewer and fewer large acreage sites suitable for development.
The Westborough State Hospital property offers the opportunity to showcase the type of development Westborough, Northborough, and the entire 495/MetroWest region would like to promote as the commonwealth moves out of the recession.
The showcase nature of this site is increasingly important as real estate development grapples with new realities, including concerns over the energy consumption and the challenges associated with managing stormwater runoff on developed land, and how the recession will change financing options for real estate development. The special commission should provide a forum to discuss these issues.
It will be particularly critical in offering insight to Westborough and Northborough as they create a master plan to guide site development options that protect the site’s natural beauty and its historical and current agricultural uses, while providing opportunities for appropriately compatible economic development.
Adam Ploetz is the deputy director ofsustainable development programs at the 495/MetroWest Partnership.
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