Historic Boston Incorporated 1999 Preservation Revolving Fund Casebook : Property
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| Suffolk County Jail | West End |
| • Striking example of the
Boston Granite School of architecture, executed by Gridley J. F. Bryant • Built in collaboration with professional penologists to provide more humane treatment of inmates • Modern prison design combined private cells with communal workspace and exercise yards • Stands vacant on the grounds of Mass General Hospital with reported plan for preservation by Partners Health Care |
|
| Name: Suffolk County Jail | Bldg SqFt: 145,004 | Lot SqFt: 127,645 | |
| Address: 215-239 Charles Street | Ward: 3 | Parcel: 445 | |
| Neighborhood: West End | Zoning: Cambridge Street North District | ||
| Year Built: 1851 | Use: Vacant | ||
| Style: Boston Granite School | Condition: Fair | ||
| Architect(s): Gridley J. F. Bryant | Owner: Massachusetts General Hospital c/o Kevin Gaffey P.O. Box 9658, Bldg. 38-250B Boston, MA 02114 |
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| Historic Certification: National Register listed | |||
| FY99 Building Assessment: $1,296,500 FY02 Building Assessment: $3,387,200 |
FY99 Tax: $208,775 FY02 Tax: $181,091 |
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| FY99 Land Assessment: $4,340,000 FY02 Land Assessment: $2,583,500 |
Tax Status: Current | ||
Preservation Strategy:
The priorities and leadership of institutions like the Massachusetts General Hospital change, but the significance of the Suffolk County Jail endures. The preservation community must monitor this site to assure that it does not deteriorate and that options for its re-use do not diminish.
Significance:
The impressive mass of the Old Suffolk County Jail is the prime institutional example of the Boston Granite School of architecture, executed by Gridley J. F. Bryant, the foremost exponent of that style. The jail’s large granite blocks convey a public image of boldness, endurance, and impenetrability, and created a dominant, almost ominous presence overlooking the Charles River. Bryant collaborated with the Reverend Louis Dwight, founder of the Prison Discipline Society of Boston, to incorporate the most advanced theories of the prison reform movement into his design: fireproof construction; radiating wings around a central administration block to allow for the segregation of prisoners by gender and according to the severity of their crimes; separate, relatively spacious cells for each inmate; high windows for natural light and ventilation; large open communal workspaces; and level, well-drained communal exercise yards. As a result of its outstanding design and its espousal of humanitarian ideals, the jail was the first American building to be featured in The Builder, the most influential British architectural journal of the time.
Preservation Challenges:
The Old Suffolk County Jail stands vacant on the grounds of Massachusetts General Hospital. The county abandoned the old jail in the 1980s. A new jail stands nearby on Nashua Street. MGH owns the old jail and is reportedly exploring reuse and development options. The same features that made the jail a model of prison reform may stand as obstacles to its reuse: multi-storied open interior spaces; numerous individual cells; and monumental window openings.
Neighborhood Context:
The Old Suffolk County Jail is one of the last historic buildings in the Old West End, which was cleared by urban renewal in the 1950s. Although once a dominant feature of the streetscape, it now appears dwarfed by the surrounding high-rises of Mass General Hospital and adjacent residential construction, as well as by a busy stretch of Storrow Drive along the river.
Other Sources of Information:
NR nomination
Entry Completed: 05/21/1999
| Construction of MGH's new Ambulatory Care Building on this site has begun. Although its original plan required the demolition of the Jail's east wing, through the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act's consultation process an imaginative design emerged which allowed for the retention of the Jail's original cruciform design and fulfillment of MGH's project goals. Two bays of east wing, which is currently dismantled to allow for the construction of a six-level underground parking garage, will be reconstructed to connect the Ambulatory Care Building to Carpenter & Co.'s planned $77 million rehabilitation of the jail into a four-star hotel. The hotel design by Cambridge Seven Associates includes a 15-story addition off the Jail's north wing, 305 guest rooms (70 rooms will be located in the Jail), meeting rooms, two restaurants, and a bar. The rehabilitation will rebuild the cupola above the Jail's central rotunda and may preserve some of the original jail cells for reuse as retail space. |
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Update Entry Completed: 08/12/2002
