Published in the St. Louis City Hospital Newsletter, publication of the St. Louis City Hospital Alumni Association, May 2003.

The renovation of the City Hospital complex continues this year with final work on lead and asbestos abatement going on right now. Those of you who live in St. Louis probably have seen that the complex currently sits behind a chain-link fence, with plastic covering its windows. You likely have noticed that a few buildings have been demolished in the last twelve months: the Malcolm Bliss building disappeared last April, followed quickly by the Snodgrass Laboratory building, and then by the E (Dormitory) Building in October and the Tower Building earlier this year. While the City Hospital redevelopers had planned to demolish the Bliss, Snodgrass and Tower buildings since they made their first plans in 1997, they had not been planning to tear down the graceful, half-hidden E Building. I was taken by surprise last October when I happened to see it being torn apart by a headache ball. I immediately contacted architect Bill Odell, who worked with the City Hospital Redevelopment Corporation to develop the first reuse plan. Bill told me that the E Building, dating from 1898, was of troublesome concrete-reinforced construction that did not withstand the years of water damage as well as the other steel-reinforced buildings. Unfortunately, he could not devise a plan to save the E Building.

The City Hospital Redevelopment Corporation has had some difficulty in getting past the demolition and abatement stage of the project. They have been delayed by site acquisition issues -- the city has held the title to the site until this last month -- that have finally been resolved. Now, they have announced the first specific reuse project: the renovation of the landmark Administration and Ward Buildings into a condominium complex named "The Georgian" after the buildings' architectural style. These buildings will probably reopen sometime in late 2004. The developers have yet to make firm plans to reuse the other buildings and redvelop the land where the other buildings once stood.

Soon we will be able to safely and legally visit the remaining hospital buildings in their new life.