City approves $1 million Fernald restoration loan

By AUBREY HAWKE
Waltham Times Contributing Writer

A $1 million loan was approved for the envelopment and restoration of two dilapidated Fernald State School buildings. 

The City Council unanimously approved the loan at its Jan. 13 meeting. 

This funding starts the first step in a multiphase project to restore the exteriors of two major Fernald property buildings. 

The loan is dedicated to design services for the restoration of Howe Hall and the Administration Building, which sit side by side in the center of the nearly 200-acre property. Both buildings were built in 1933, 45 years after the institution moved to its Waltham location. 

The Fernald State School was founded in 1848 as the country’s first publicly funded school for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. The school moved from South Boston to Waltham in 1890, where it operated until the state shut it down in 2014. The City of Waltham bought the property for $3.73 million in 2014. 

The buildings have sat vacant for years, and over the past decade the property has been plagued by trespassers, vandalism and fire incidents (including arson). The latest incident came just Saturday, Jan. 18, when the 133-year-old Chipman Building suffered major damage from a three-alarm fire. The cause of the fire is under investigation. 

Loan funds major work

The loan, officially tallying $1,031,710, comes from the municipal bond market. The loan breaks down to be $494,165 for Howe Hall and $537,545 for the Administration Building. 

The city hired Boston-based architectural firm Bargmann Hendrie + Archetype (BH+A) for the project. BH+A has a wide variety of work in its portfolio and has worked on several major historic building restoration projects, including the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. 

“The intent of this exterior restoration scope will be to provide sound, watertight exteriors that will not require major repairs for 50 years,” wrote BH+A in a Dec. 12, 2024, letter to the city. 

According to BH+A’s letter, the scope of the project includes restoring the brick facades to their original appearance; replacing windows with windows that match but are energy efficient and low maintenance; replacing the slate and membrane roofing; replacing lost gutters; replacing deteriorated wood doors; repairing the front entries; and adding accessible ramps. 

This phase of the project does not include any work on utilities or landscaping, which are slated for the project’s second phase.

The project does not include any work on the building’s interiors. 

Work will be done in conjunction with city officials, according to BH+A.

“We understand the Waltham Historical Commission will review the project,” BH+A wrote in the Dec. 13 letter, noting that “there may be conflicting priorities between preservation, hazardous materials, code compliance, cost maintenance, etc.”

Mort Isaacson, who chairs the Waltham Historical Commission, wrote in an email to The Waltham Times that “the commission will be happy to cooperate with the contractor on the project. I look forward to a contact from the contractor, now that the funding has been approved.”

Correction: The photo of the Administration Building has replaced the photo initially posted of Waverley Hall, which was incorrectly identified as the administration building.

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