Outing Park Historic District facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Outing Park Historic District
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 Location in Massachusetts
Location in the United States
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| Location | Dwight St. Ext., Springfield, Massachusetts |
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| Area | 4 acres (1.6 ha) |
| Built | 1914-1926 |
| Architect | Sprague, Harry; Angers, Pierre |
| NRHP reference No. | 12000068 |
| Added to NRHP | March 7, 2012 |
The Outing Park Historic District, also known as Hollywood, is a special neighborhood in Springfield, Massachusetts. It's a collection of 23 apartment buildings that were built a long time ago, between 1914 and 1926. A company called Gagnier & Angers built them. These buildings are found close together on streets like Niagara, Oswego, Bayonne, Dwight Street Extension, and Saratoga Street. This area is important because it has many old apartment buildings from that time, all in one place. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2012, which means it's officially recognized as a historic site.
Contents
What is the Outing Park Historic District?
The Outing Park area is located in the South End of Springfield. It's found between Saratoga and Marble Streets. Dwight Street Extension runs through the middle of the district.
How Many Buildings Are There?
Today, there are 23 apartment buildings here. But originally, there were 44! All of these buildings are four stories tall. They are built right up to the sidewalks, which makes the streets feel cozy and narrow.
What Do the Buildings Look Like?
The buildings all look quite similar. They are made from different colors of brick. They also have special stone decorations. Their designs use ideas from old styles like Georgian Revival and Classical Revival.
Special Features of the Buildings
You can spot some cool details on these buildings. Many have decorative lines between floors. Windows often have special stone tops called keystoned lintels. Some windows are set in round, arched openings. The tops of the buildings have fancy edges called cornices, supported by brackets.
The main entrances are also different. Some have small porches with round columns. Others have doors set back into the building with stone frames. Inside, many of the public areas still have their original designs. Even some door and window frames in the apartments are still the same as when they were built.
Who Built Outing Park?
The Outing Park area was one of the biggest projects by Gagnier & Angers. This company built many apartment buildings in Springfield. They created over 800 homes in the city during the early 1900s.
How Big Were the Buildings?
The Outing Park project included 44 buildings at first. Each building had a different number of homes, from 8 to more than 20 apartments. This made Outing Park the largest group of apartment buildings in the city.
What Happened to Some Buildings?
In the 1970s, the city worked on updating many areas. During this time, the city bought all of these buildings. Many were in poor condition, so they were torn down. Most of the buildings that were removed were on one side of the development. Because of this, the special look of the streets with all the old buildings has mostly survived.
