History of the Manchester VA Medical Center

 The Manchester Veterans Administration Hospital (now known as the Manchester VA Medical Center) was completed in 1950 as part of the post-World War II initiative of the Veterans Administration to provide modern medical care and facilities to veterans of the war, some 16 million in number. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the successor to the Veterans Administration, describes this postwar design and construction campaign as its “third generation” of hospitals. The Manchester VA Medical Center campus is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places as the Manchester Veterans Administration Hospital Historic District. The historic district is significant as an example of the VA’s third generation of hospitals which provided consolidated, modern medical services to veterans throughout the post-World War II period. The district is also significant for its Prairie Style architecture, which was designed by two well-established private architectural firms, as opposed to being designed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which was common practice during the development of the first two generations of VA hospitals.

EXPLORE THE THREE GENERATIONS OF VA HOSPITALS

PLANNING THE MANCHESTER VA MEDICAL CENTER

Campaign to get a VA Hospital in New Hampshire

At the end of World War I, New Hampshire lobbied for a Veterans Administration hospital to serve its veterans, but was unsuccessful. The state put forth another strong effort starting in 1938. New Hampshire repeatedly sent a Congressional Delegation to Washington, DC to plead to the Veterans Administration Hospital Board for its selection to build a hospital. The state ultimately succeeded in 1945 when it was selected to receive one of 56 new hospitals. From there, Concord, Franklin, Keene, Nashua, Portsmouth, and Manchester competed for the contract. Manchester proved to be an ideal location for a new 150-bed medical center for several key reasons. Chief among these reasons was the city’s close proximity to Boston, which boasted a number of research facilities, including one of the most prestigious in the world at Harvard University. With available land on the outskirts of the city, Manchester also had an existing robust infrastructure and transportation network, making access for the veteran population easier.

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE MANCHESTER VA MEDICAL CENTER

Construction of the Manchester VA Medical Center was managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who hired private architects to prepare designs of the new hospital campus. This included two architecture firms: James H. Ritchie and Associates, and Faulkner, Kingsbury, and Stenhouse; and one landscape architecture firm: Shurcliff & Shurcliff.

Plans for the Manchester VA Medical Center were developed in 1948. Construction began in 1949 and extended over the course of roughly one year, reaching completion in 1950. The main hospital building was built by Boston construction firm George A. Fuller Company, and the support buildings were erected by Davison Construction, a local construction company. Over the years, the buildings and campus of the Manchester VA Medical Center have been modified and updated to support the facility’s operations and care of our nation’s veterans.

Landscape Design of the Manchester VA Medical Center

The landscape of the Manchester VA Medical Center was planned by Boston landscape architecture firm Shurcliff & Shurcliff. The firm was founded by Arthur A. Shurcliff, who was renowned for his excellence in city planning. Some of his most prominent work includes the American Colonial Revival landscape design for Colonial Williamsburg. Shurcliff also worked with well-known landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted in founding the four-year landscape architecture program at Harvard University. In 1904, Shurcliff opened his own firm and was later joined by his son Sidney to form Shurcliff & Shurcliff. Including a thoughtfully and beautifully designed landscape was a tradition seen across all three generations of VA hospitals, and was believed to aid in the recovery process of patients. Shurcliff & Shurcliff continued this tradition by incorporating a planting plan that was interspersed between the main hospital building and the associated support buildings at the Manchester VA Medical Center, primarily using mature pines and lawns, to create a bucolic, campus-like setting.

The Architects of the Manchester VA Medical Center

Two architecture firms designed the buildings of the Manchester VA Medical Center. Located out of Boston, James H. Ritchie and Associates designed the main hospital building. The building was conceived as a modern skyscraper with tiered wings extending into the landscape, which is emblematic of Prairie Style architecture. In keeping with the philosophy of the third generation of VA Hospitals, the skyscraper design allowed for the consolidation of hospital services. The firm also designed the boiler and garage building, which was built to the rear of the hospital. James H. Ritchie and Associates was known for its work at the University of Massachusetts campus in Amherst, as well as for winning the commission for the Boston Consumptives Hospital, which was designed between 1929 and 1935, and later listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The remaining support buildings, including the employee residences, were designed by the Washington, DC-based firm, Faulkner, Kingsbury, and Stenhouse. The firm was well established as a hospital designer, and designed additional campuses in the region, a number of which won awards. These campuses include Bethesda Suburban Hospital in Maryland (built 1943), and the George Washington University Hospital (built 1946) and Holy Cross Hospital (built 1963) in Washington, D.C., among others.

Prairie Style Architecture

The buildings of the original design for the Manchester VA Medical Center are late examples of Prairie Style architecture. Prairie Style architecture is considered to be a distinctly American architectural style that was popularized by architect Frank Lloyd Wright during the early twentieth century. Inspired by the expansive American plains, or prairie, this style of architecture was adapted into a variety of eclectic forms and used into the mid-twentieth century. Identifying features of Prairie Style architecture include long horizontal forms, flat or low-pitched hipped roofs with wide overhanging eaves, asymmetrical facades with stone or brick horizontal banding, and windows often grouped in horizontal ribbons. Prairie Style architecture was most commonly constructed throughout the Midwest. A collection of buildings in this style like those of the Manchester VA Medical Center are a rare occurrence in the Northeast/New England region of the United States. Manchester is also home to two Prairie Style dwellings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright: the Zimmerman House (built 1951) and the Toufic H. Kalil House (built 1955), which are both located on Heather Street.

EMPLOYEE RESIDENCES AT THE MANCHESTER VA MEDICAL CENTER

When designed and built, the Manchester VA Medical Center campus included five residential buildings. The residences housed the facility’s manager, staff, nurses, and male attendants.

First and second generation hospitals included employee residences on their campuses out of necessity due to their rural, secluded locations. Third generation hospitals, such as the Manchester VA Medical Center, also included employee residences, despite being located on smaller, more easily accessible urban campuses. Employee residences at third generation hospitals typically included a director or manager’s house, staff quarters, and nurse’s quarters, which were clustered together on the campus. Quarters for the male attendants were separated and often placed on the other side of the campus, away from the rest of the residential buildings. Residences at the Manchester VA Medical Center reflected this traditional layout, which separated the male attendants’ quarters from the other residences.
In the 1990s, the staff quarters and nurse’s quarters of the Manchester VA Medical Center were converted into offices, and the male attendants’ quarters were converted to serve as a research center.
Four out of the five of the original employee residences are scheduled to be demolished in 2023, including the former Manager’s Home, two Staff Quarters, and the Nurse’s Quarters. The former residences are being demolished to make way for two new state-of-the-art clinical care buildings and a parking lot to expand patient services at the Manchester VA Medical Center. After the scheduled 2023 demolition, the only former residential building still standing on the Manchester VA Medical Center campus will be the male attendants’ quarters, which currently serves as a research center for the facility.