Health Center Opens Doors on Holyoke Street

When Marshall H. Bailey became Harvard’s first medical adviser in 1897, the University had no infirmary. He remained its only physician for a quarter century, eventually successfully advocating for an infirmary, where he performed “hundreds of successful operations under primitive conditions,” according to a Crimson article published in 1953.

But by 1953, that level of care would no longer suffice. Arlie V. Bock, the Henry K. Oliver Professor of Hygiene, began to advocate for a new infirmary and health center between Dunster and Holyoke streets to serve the University community. His urging was the start of a multi-year endeavor to construct the building that opened in the fall of 1961 as the Holyoke Center.

HARVARD HEALTH, A HISTORY

Bailey’s crusade to create a campus infirmary succeeded in 1902, and by 1914, Harvard had launched a university-wide hygiene department, the predecessor to the present-day University Health Services. But subsequent discussions to expand medical care offerings began nearly four decades later.

In 1953, students and administrators met in committees to plan for a new centralized location for the University’s medical unit, which would allow for state-of-the-art medical treatment.

The hygiene department announced its plan to construct this new building, then called the Health Center, in the fall of 1954. Despite providing antibiotics and dental care at the existing hygiene building, located at 15 Holyoke Street, the hygiene department had no facility for eye treatment. Instead, medical specialists at the 15 Holyoke Street center referred students to see a specialist.

A new, more expansive health center would enable more health services to be performed in-house.

CONSTRUCTION IN SITE

Architectural sketches for the new health center were completed in 1956. In a Crimson article from that year, Dana L. Farnsworth, director of the Harvard University Health Services, estimated that the project costs would exceed $2 million.

In a report to the Board of Overseers, Harvard University President Nathan M. Pusey ’28 expressed his support of the Health Center.

“Some would say that a new centrally located health center for Harvard and Radcliffe...is the most crying need of all,” he wrote.

The architectural plans combined the Stillman Infirmary and the hygiene building to create a unified center that would be able to provide care to students 24 hours a day.

By 1959, administrators confirmed that construction for the new building could start as early as that year. More detailed architectural sketches suggested that the administration was nearly certain that it would build the facility, according to a 1959 Crimson article.

University Health Services had “been waiting 24 years to obtain adequate facilities for the University,” Farnsworth noted.

Construction was split into four phases. The first phase was intended to house medical facilities, and the second phase would expand office space for UHS. The third and fourth phases would create more administrative spaces and a bank. The cost for the first-phase medical facilities alone was $3.5 million. The projected total cost of the project quickly rose from $2 million in 1956 to more than $10 million in 1959.

NO VACANCY

Even in the early stages, the structure was expected to extend far down Dunster Street. Many popular establishments would be shut down, including Cronin’s Bar, a central hangout spot for Harvard students.

The bar would only shutter its doors in 1965, in the last leg of the construction of the Holyoke Center. Several surrounding establishments were also concurrently destroyed to make room for the new building.

While construction was ongoing, shopkeepers debated whether to rent out alternate space. Ultimately, such a move would cause “an economic problem,” said James D. Cronin, the owner of the popular bar, in a 1957 Crimson article.

Joseph M. Russin ’64 said students thought the growing structure was “ugly” and “totally out of character with the Yard across the street and the other buildings on Mass. Ave,” in an email to the Crimson.

Many of the former establishments surrounding it shut down permanently. When the Holyoke Center opened, new business popped up around the building. Over the years, it transformed from a gleaming new building to a familiar facade.

“It has become ‘part of the scenery’ rather than something that was once blueprints or naked girders,” wrote Claude E. Welch Jr. ’61 in an email.

—Staff writer David W. Kaufman can be reached at davidkaufman@college.harvard.edu.