Then & Now: Hooper Street Apartments, Worcester

Mike Elfland, Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Updated ·2 min read
The Hooper Street Apartments, a half-century after they were delivered to Worcester.
The Hooper Street Apartments, a half-century after they were delivered to Worcester.
Stirling Homex, the New York company that manufactured Hooper Street Apartments, went out of business a few years after the Worcester project.
Stirling Homex, the New York company that manufactured Hooper Street Apartments, went out of business a few years after the Worcester project.

The townhouses that fill the corner of Hooper and Catharine streets have roots in upstate New York.

In the summer of 1970, the two-story units were hauled to Worcester from Avon, New York, near Rochester. Stirling Homex, one of the country's biggest makers of prefabricated homes, contracted with the Worcester Housing Authority to supply dozens of homes for low-income families.

Hooper Street Apartments, as the complex is now known, opened in fall 1970. From start to finish, including site work, the transformation of an open field into public housing took about 10 weeks.

The project, with a total price tag of $575,000, included 16 four-bedroom units, six three-bedroom units and four two-bedroom units.

More Stirling Homex homes were installed elsewhere in the city, including in the area of Providence Street and Baltic Road area.

This week's Then photo, from August 1970, shows the delivery of units on Hooper Street. The complex abuts the rear of the UMass Memorial campus on Belmont Street.

When built, Hooper Street Apartments marked the Worcester Housing Authority's first major project for low-income residents since the 1952 construction of Great Brook Valley. At the time, the authority was being criticized for putting too much of its focus on housing for the elderly.

The Hooper Street Apartments have been home to hundreds of families in the half-century since they were delivered from New York. The apartments have been renovated over the years, although the brick facade on the first floor of each unit remains.

In the weeks before the complex opened, the Worcester Housing Authority reviewed applications for the new apartments. Jeremiah F. Gallo, chairman of the authority, said at a meeting that careful screening of families is planned and that only those with "good housekeeping habits" and who "have their kids under control" will be allowed to live at Hooper Street Apartments.

Last week Then & Now: Perry's Deli, 134 Main St., Worcester

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Then & Now: Hooper Street Apartments, Worcester