Published in the St. Louis City Hospital Newsletter, publication of the St. Louis City Hospital Alumni Association, May 2001.

Many of you probably have not heard much about City Hospital since the city announced plans to renovate some of the buildings back in November 1999. There have been occasional articles and snippets of news information, as well as a sign announcing renovation in front of the Administration building. But not much has happened, or been reported. In fact, the most noteworthy occurrence from the last two years involving City Hospital seems like something routine: the wooden porch and cornice on the Commissioner's Building are almost all gone, the cornice having rotted and the porch having been vandalized.

But now the developers who won the contract in 1999, the City Hospital Redevelopment Corporation, expect to soon have legitimate workers to take out broken fixtures--and replace them with brand new ones..

"The City recently signed a contract with Spirtas to do the demolition of the high rise and Malcolm Bliss and to abate the rest of the site," said Trace Shaughnessy of the Redevelopment Corporation in an e-mail to me. Demolition might begin in May and be completed by August. Also to be demolished are the Snodgras Laboratory Building and likely the old Ambulance Garage.

The Post-Dispatch heralded the upcoming renovation with a full-page article by reporter Joe Scalzo on the front of the "Everyday" on March 21. However, the article was mainly an anecdotal story about a man named Jim Burchett who lives in the hospital complex, accompanied by great photographs of the interior of the building -- including a shot of an old observation dome in the Tower Building, glass shattered but intact. The article did contain a few new details, though, but neglected something that has delayed the start of the project: the City Hospital Redevelopment Corporation still does not own the hospital complex.

Shaughnessy told me that the "We are currently negotiating with the City over the price of the complex" but expects a deal can be reached. Until the price is settled, though, no work beyond the demolition and abatement work--the city is paying for that -- can be started. When the Redevelopment Corporation originally bid for City Hospital, the prevalent understanding was that the Land Reutilization Authority, the city's holder of vacant properties, would give the buildings for only $1 to a developer with financially stable plans. When the Redevelopment Corporation was chosen to redevelop the site, though, the city decided that it needed to receive more than a beautifully restored City Hospital in return for giving the land away for free.

It is not likely that there will not be a agreement over price, and the incoming Mayor Francis Slay is bound to continue the negotiations. The squabble over price is simply irritating to those of us who have waited for years to see something great happen with City Hospital. It is also another sign that the city suffers from poor communication within its departments and capricious administration of development. We're lucky Trace and his partners in redevelopment are Lafayette Square residents whose resolve to restore the gracious buildings of City Hospital is unshakable.

Their plans will indeed leave City Hospital a fine place to work, live, and eat. The original redevelopment plan included the following objectives, to be completed by 2003: