West Hills – Owatonna
The main administration building of the Minnesota State Public School for Dependent and Neglected Children in Owatonna was designed by Warren B. Dunnell and constructed in 1886. In 1945 the orphanage was shut down and the facility began to serve handicapped children until it closed in 1970. In 1974 the city of Owatonna purchased the 75-acre building complex for office space. Renamed “West Hills,” it now serves as the city’s administrative office center and home to many civic nonprofit organizations, including a senior citizen center, the Owatonna Arts Center, two non-profit day-care centers, a chemical dependency half-way house, and Big Brothers/Big Sisters, among others. An on-site museum interprets the complex’s history as an orphanage.
