Agnews State Hospital, Occupational Therapy Building, Second Street near Avenue A, Santa Clara, Santa Clara County, CA

Significance: Building 34, the Occupation Therapy Building, is significant during the period from 1938 to 1952 as a component of the reconstruction of Agnews State Hospital in a pavilion plan. The 1907 design for the hospital symbolized not only a reconfiguration of buildings into smaller structures in a park-like setting, but an important change in the perspectives on and the treatment of patients. Agnews was the first mental facility in California to switch from the confinement and permanent housing of patients to humane treatment with the hope of release. Although constructed later than many of the buildings at Agnews, Building 34 represents the hospital's commitment to prepare the mentally ill for life and work after leaving the hospital. At the Occupational Therapy Building patients could learn skills such as industrial and textile manufacturing. In keeping with the pavilion model, the building was constructed as a small, specialized unit.
Survey number: HABS CA-2710-X
Building/structure dates: 1935 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1994 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1998 Demolished