For more than a century, Clarke was predominantly a boarding school for students from kindergarten age through high school.
NORTHAMPTON - William J. Corwin, President of the Clarke School for the Deaf, stands for a portrait in May 2009.NORTHAMPTON – Clarke School for Hearing and Speech is listing nearly all that remains of its once sprawling campus with a large regional land broker, including a gymnasium with an Olympic-size pool and nine other buildings.
According to a map and an accompanying description on the website of the Boston-based LandVest, an affiliate of Christie’s, Clarke is selling a total of 11.7 acres of property, including 8.02 acres on the west side of Round Hill Road and 3.68 on the east side. The only building outside the boundaries of the map is Bell Hall, which was built in the 1970s as a dormitory for older students and is the newest building on campus. [View LandVest's listing for the Clarke School property.]
The buildings listed for sale are Hubard Hall and Rogers Hall on the east side of Round Hill Road. Gawith, Coolidge and Skinner halls on the opposite side of the street are also being offered, along with Galbraith Gym, Adams House, the building that houses the boilers and the cottage where the supervisor of the physical plant lives. In addition, there is a garage for sale.
Despite the fact that nearly all of the sprawling campus is up for grabs, Clarke President William J. Corwin emphasized that the historic school will maintain a presence on Round Hill Road. Rather, he said, the downsizing reflect profound changes in the treatment of the deaf.
“There’s not the same kind of need for the same kind of physical structure we’ve had historically,” he said.
Clarke School class in days gone by.For more than a century, Clarke was predominantly a boarding school for students from kindergarten age through high school. It was not uncommon for families to move to Northampton so that their children could attend Clarke. Over the last 10-15 years, however, advancements in technology and in the screening of newborns for hearing impairments have resulted in better services for the deaf at an earlier age. Cochlear implants afford all but the most severely impaired a significant degree of hearing. As a result, Corwin said, most are able to remain in the mainstream, where Clarke reaches out to them.
“The vast majority of kids we serve as an organization are going to be under seven,” he said. “Most of them are mainstreamed at 4-6. There’s no way people would have imagined 20 years ago that you’d have profoundly deaf kids talking on cell phones, playing the violin and learning in the mainstream. There’s nothing they can’t do at this point.”
Although Clarke serves more than 700 students a year out of the Round Hill Road facility, there are only eight boarding students, Corwin said. He expects the school will continue to accept boarders.
“There are no plans to close the residential program,” he said.
According to Corwin, Bell Hall already hosts a number of the school’s main programs. Clarke may decide to keep other buildings included in the Request for Proposals or even rent other space in Northampton, he said.
Over the past few years, the school has already sold a number of other buildings. Most recently, a Connecticut couple purchased a Gilded Age mansion known as the President’s House for more than $1 million.