HomeMy WebLinkAboutarea-aaArea AA — Metropolitan State Hospital
The former Metropolitan State Hospital property is located on a hilltop setting in South Lexington, bordered on the north by
Concord Avenue in Lexington and on the south by Trapelo Road in Waltham. Operational from 1929 until 1992 it was one of
several state psychiatric institutions serving the Boston metropolitan area. The entire Metropolitan State Hospital property was
listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
The growing need for an additional state hospital for the city of Boston was
first voiced at the turn of the 20th century although the state did not allocate
the funds to build a second metropolitan psychiatric institution until 1927.
That same year 378 acres of farmland in Lexington, Waltham and Belmont
was purchased and construction of the sprawling hospital campus was begun.
The official opening of the hospital was celebrated on October 29, 1930
although construction of the original seventeen buildings continued until
1935. Some of the later stages were accomplished through the federal Works
Progress Administration. At the time of its completion, the $1.8 million
complex was considered the most modern mental health facility in the
country. Met State, as it was known, treated patients with both mental health
and general health problems.
Memorial at old Metropolitan State Hospital Site
Most of the buildings in the original campus complex were designed by architect Gordon C. Robb and were Colonial Revival in
style, constructed of red brick with concrete and brick trim. Stylistic details included pediments decorated by dentils and brick
moldings, brick quoins, molded watertables and lunette windows.
The buildings located within Lexington included the massive CTG (continuous treatment group) building consisting of eight
wings of patient accommodations with a central, secure courtyard for recreation (1927), the domed medical-surgical building
(1935), the Kline Hall auditorium (1930), and St. Nicholas Chapel (1935). Resources located in Waltham included the
Administration Building (1927), the Female Dormitory (1927), Male Dormitory (1930), Chief Engineer House (1931), the
Superintendent House (1934) and the hospital cemetery.
The facility closed in January 1992, part of a broader deinstitutionalization movement that saw the shuttering of most state
mental hospitals in Massachusetts and placement of patients in smaller group settings. The entire property remained abandoned
and unused for the next fifteen years.
In 2007 the portion of the property in Lexington was transformed into a 387-unit apartment complex known as Avalon at
Lexington Hills. A number of the former hospital buildings were incorporated into the new development including the former
Kline Hall which now houses marketing offices, Lexington's cable access station, an auditorium and a fitness area. A large
concrete relief from the medical-surgical building has been installed outside the building as a memorial to the state hospital.
The CTG building with its courtyard is a centerpiece of the development and has been totally retrofitted for residential use.
A short distance from the apartment complex, the abandoned and boarded Dr. William McLaughlin Administration Building,
just over the line in Waltham, awaits future use.