Part of the Citizens Advisory Committee's stated mission in redeveloping Hospital Hill has been to provide a memorial commemorating the Northampton State Hospital and its 150-year history on the site. To this end a subcommittee was formed, and in May, 2007, it issued a report recommending that the hospital's original fountain be refurbished and returned to where it once stood outside the hospital. Members hoped the memorial would be set in a secluded space that would allow quiet contemplation.
Last Monday, Oct. 20, the subcommittee reconvened for the first time since its report to decide on the seven location options developers had offered them for the memorial.
Despite the subcommittee's recommendation, a private home is already under construction on the fountain's original site, and the only option MassDevelopment offered that resembled what had been requested was in a narrow pathway between two other houses. Another option was right on Route 66, a location the subcommittee had already said was not appropriate. Four more possibilities were at major intersections, near playgrounds or too close to houses.
The subcommittee ultimately chose a site for the memorial on the opposite edge of the campus.
While the location was decided, few other issues were resolved. Exactly what the memorial will look like, who will design it, and how it will be paid for are still unanswered questions. When the hospital was demolished late in 2006, along with the fountain, the subcommittee had taken "a gamble and [taken] what [they] could salvage," in the words of one member of the subcommittee, with the idea that the bits and pieces would somehow be used to retell the site's story.
During their discussions, one member reported he'd visited the collection of memorabilia that morning. It was being stored by the city outside, at an undisclosed location, and he wondered if restoring the fountain really would satisfy the need for a memorial. He said the state of the fountain was "very sad." Its surface was pitted, and he imagined the cost for preservation would be higher than the original estimate of $50,000. He doubted whether it could ever be made functional again. Of all the identifiable relics they'd saved, he said, an examination table was in the best condition.
Other members wondered who would pay for the fountain's plumbing and upkeep, and Joe Blumenthal, who chaired the committee, guessed that this expense might be covered by a maintenance fee the new Hospital Hill homeowners would be expected to pay. Beth Murphy of MassDevelopment, who was present at the meeting, was unable to offer any answers to these questions.
Given how far the city had strayed from its original historic preservation goals, one member said, the city owed it to the public to foot the bill for the memorial. Blumenthal agreed but doubted that the city would share the view; the memorial committee would likely need to consider other fundraising options.
He asked whether any of the six other members would be willing to take on the cause.
No one stepped forward.
